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Published: February 15th 2007
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Bellas Artes
I couldn't work my flash to get photos inside, so you get to look at the building instead. So let me say that there's a lot to do in Mexico City, and I've decided to spread it out over the course of my time here. A few things a day seems like a good way to do it to me, especially when too much makes my feet hurt. I'm not so impressed with my expensive Timberlands right about now. Anyway, on Saturday I visited el Monumento a la Revolucion and the museum underneath it as well. (Forgive my lack of accents - the time it takes for me on here means it's not happening). In the four pillars of the monument are buried three heroes of the war (Pancho Villa, Francisco Madero, and Venustiano Carranza) and two of the central figures of the Revolution after all the battles had ended (Plutarco Calles and the revered Lazaro Cardenas). The museum is small but cheap and interesting, although the interest might not be there if you don't already know the history, or know Spanish well enough to read all the information. I'm very glad I came to Mexico knowing as much as I do about its history and institutions and everything or else I wouldn't be getting as much out of
Monumento de la Revolucion
The symbol of the Revolution... everthing.
After that I was going to head over to the Alameda Central and the museums there but since they're free on Sundays I put it off until the next day. The Alameda is packed on Sundays. Everyone is out enjoying the park, vendors are everywhere selling ice cream and cotton candy along with the usual tacos and things, and people like me are taking advantage of the free museums. I've done quite a bit of reading about Mexican Muralism, and so even though I'm not really trained in art, and certainly don't have a discerning eye, I was really looking forward to seeing the work of the big three especially - Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The Museo Mural Diego Rivera houses one of his more famous pieces: "Dream of A Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda." It is quite impressive and the rest of the small museum is interesting, too, with lots of photos of Diego working on the mural, and also information on all the rest of his murals. Unfortunately, I had the same problem here as I did in most of the other museums with not being able to get my flash
Part Two
...and a political cartoon showing the state of the Revolution today. turned off, so no photos unfortunately. I worked it out a couple days later, so I'll get some pictures when I go back in March with Jessica, who's coming down on the 10th of next month.
Next it was across the park to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, which has salons featuring various exhibits of various styles of arts. Again, though, what interested me most was the murals on the upper floors. Siqueiros' work was very impressive but the two pieces I want to mention are Rivera's "Man at the Crossroads" and Orozco's "Catharsis." "Man at the Crossroads," for those of you who saw the movie "Frida," is the recreation of the mural Rivera originally painted at Rockefeller Center. When he refused to compromise his vision by removing the image of Vladimir Lenin from the mural, the Rockefellers tore the whole thing down with Rivera promising to do the whole thing over somewhere else. Well, here it is. On the opposite wall, facing Rivera's mural, is "Catharsis," by Orozco. Orozoco painted with really bold colors and images that your eye can't help but being drawn to and overwhelmed by. And at a time when most of the Mexican muralists
By Frida Kahlo's Husband
At the Public Education building. were showing ancient and modern history, Orozco was saying something about present day life. I didn't get a picture, but if you don't know it, I encourage you to utilize one of our greatest modern day resources: google it.
On Tuesday I finally went to the Templo Mayor, the archaeological site in the heart of the city where 500 years ago stood the Aztecs' Temple. The Spanish built on top of the ashes of Tenochtitlan, and Metropolitan Cathedral next door still rests atop a good deal of the Aztec complex. The excavation of what I visited on Tuesday wasn't started until 1978 when electric workers laying wire struck a huge disc bearing the image of an Aztec goddess. The ruins themselves are interesting but what really stands out is the museum that houses all of the artifacts extracted from the site by the archaeologists. After my visit to the Templo Mayor, I went to see more of Diego Rivera's work at the Secretaria de Educacion Publica, where I finally got my flash off in order to snap some shots of a few of the 120 frescos that make up the enormous project that Rivera undertook here.
Before I
More Diego
A small sliver of the project went into the Templo Mayor I let myself be interviewed by a 17 or 18 year old girl who I guess was doing a project for an English class. Her boyfriend or partner videotaped while she asked me a whole bunch of questions ranging from how I liked Mexico to what kind of music I liked. I was happy to help and not so many people from here speak English, so it was nice talking to some locals in English for a few minutes, as well. One of the questions she asked me was how many languages I speak. Well. . . I speak one, but I read two. In the Templo Mayor museum, for instance, they have an English audio tour program that you can rent. I didn't get it, because I didn't need it. Reading all the information and understanding every bit of it is no problem for me, but when someone asks me a question, it had better be a si o no question, because that's about all I'm capable of giving in the immediacy of most situations. Hopefully my ability to communicate orally will improve, but I suppose it's good that I'm literate to some degree.
The Scope of It
The frescos go all around the top and bottom floors of this courtyard... I was going to comment about some of the food I've been eating and the awesomely low prices I've been paying, but I'll save that for another entry, I think. Also, I went to the movies to see Blood Diamond for less than $2.50. Talk about a deal. Anyway, I'll wrap this up by saying unfortunately I won't be seeing as much of Mexico in this trip as I'd hoped, as I'll be coming home before March is over. I've set into motion events that are hopefully going to take me to Santago, Chile to study for 8 months starting in the Fall, so I've decided to go back to Las Vegas to try to save up some money for that trip. I'll have a few more entries worth of thing to say about Mexico, though, so look for that.
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