How Mexico City’s Mural Movement Transformed Walls into Art
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Loading... - martinez abigail
- 08 May 2023
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Mexico City's mural movement of the 1920s and 30s transformed the city's walls into stunning works of art. The movement celebrated Mexico's indigenous heritage following the Mexican Revolution and was led by famous artists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco.
The Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, a former Jesuit college, was one of the buildings that became the canvases for this movement. The college now serves as a museum and hosts an exhibition that honors the art of Revueltas, Rivera, Orozco, and others.
The exhibit showcases both historic and contemporary murals. The most recent mural, "La Muerte de las Culturas" ("The Death of Cultures"), depicts the struggle for freedom and equality of Mexicans of African descent and how their identity was forged from that struggle.
According to Jonatan Chávez, a historian of San Ildefonso, the mural movement arose in a highly politicized context. Many of the murals criticized political leaders, inequality, or the Catholic Church, reflecting the young muralists' revolutionary nationalism and academic scholarship.
Some artists expressed their social and political views by incorporating divine figures or religious references into their paintings. Orozco's 1924 fresco "La Alcancía" ("The Piggy Bank"), for example, shows a critique of the Catholic Church's power and influence.
For other muralists, such as Revueltas and Fernando Leal, the goal was to find new ways to portray the military and spiritual conquest led by the Spaniards. Today, the legacy of Mexico City's mural movement can be seen in the numerous murals that adorn the city's buildings and public spaces, reminding people of Mexico's rich cultural heritage and ongoing struggles for social justice.
"San Ildefonso, a place steeped in the remnants of religious presence and cultural identity, was the birthplace of muralism. A place where Jesuits conducted their educational work centuries before the earliest murals were created in 1923. In 1572, half a century after the Spanish conquest, Jesuits founded San Ildefonso, a school for seminarians and missionaries with the aim of educating the 'criollo,' descendants of Spaniards who were born in the colony," Chávez exclaimed in awe.
But the Jesuits' thirst for knowledge was not limited to the teachings of Christianity. They went beyond and sought to understand the 'criollo' people's Indigenous spiritual practices and beliefs, resulting in a strengthening of the concept of 'criollo' identity throughout the territory. This allowed Jesuits to impart their knowledge of arts and crafts to the 'criollo' people.
In the 20th century, muralists portrayed this concept in their works. Revueltas' mural, "Alegoría de la Virgen de Guadalupe" ("Allegory of the Virgin of Guadalupe"), is an excellent example. The Catholic image of Virgin Mary is at the top center of the mural, surrounded by her children - men and women with varying skin tones - who pray around her.
