Catching up...

It’s been a little while since my last post. Somewhere along the way I lost a bit of momentum, which happens. But before we head off to Southeast Asia, Let's sit down and have a drink and get back and catch up on Mexico. 

Right before we left, we visited the Secretariat of Public Education building, which is still an active government building dedicated to education. Inside are extensive murals by Diego Rivera, spread across multiple courtyards and corridors. What makes this so striking is how accessible it all is—these massive, political, unapologetic works aren’t tucked away in a museum, but displayed in a public building meant for the people. The murals depict workers, teachers, farmers, revolutionaries, and everyday life, reinforcing Rivera’s belief that art should educate as much as it inspires. It’s one of those places that quietly stops you in your tracks.

The ofrendas set up in the Zócalo for Día de los Muertos were massive—far beyond the small, personal altars you usually see in homes. An ofrenda is meant to welcome the spirits of the dead back to the living world, built with offerings like marigolds, candles, photos, food, drinks, and objects the person loved in life. In the Zócalo, that idea is scaled up to a civic level. Entire sections of the square were filled with towering installations, each one layered with symbolism, color, and detail. It felt less like a single altar and more like walking through an open-air gallery dedicated to memory, ritual, and the very public way Mexico honors its dead.

Just outside the Zócalo, we came across a flower carpet, or alfombra. These temporary works of art are made from flowers, colored sawdust, and natural materials, laid directly on the street. Like the ofrendas, they’re meant to be fleeting—created to be walked past, photographed, and eventually disappear. This one stretched on for a blocks dense with color and pattern, a quiet counterpoint to the scale and spectacle of the Zócalo installations.

And speaking of counterpoints: the Zócalo ofrenda in the distance, the Mexican flag nearly fully unfurled, Palacio de Hierro—Mexico’s upscale department store—standing off to the side, and, at street level, an active protest cutting through the same space as the flower carpet. Celebration, commerce, remembrance, and dissent, all sharing the same few city blocks.

Next Stop.....  San Jose....  Does anyone know the way??  

Two Stops: O’Gorman’s House and the UNAM Library

We visited the O’Higgins–Rivera workshop, where the Day of the Dead ofrendas were set up throughout the house—each dedicated to the three artists who lived and worked there. The place still looks like a working space, and seeing how Pablo O’Higgins and Diego Rivera shared that environment adds to the history of the building. 

The place still looks like a working space, and seeing how Pablo O’Higgins and Diego Rivera shared that environment added to the history of the building. 

O’Higgins’ home and studio were built in a stripped-down, utilitarian style that reflected both his politics and his practical personality. He used just simple forms, exposed materials, and a layout meant for work, collaboration, and daily life. It followed the same spirit as the early functionalist movement in Mexico: architecture as a tool, not a luxury. The house was meant to serve artists and activists who came through its doors, not to impress anyone from the street.

After that, we headed to the UNAM campus, stopped to see Rivera’s mural on the Central Library, and happened to catch a graduation ceremony spilling out across the walkways. 

Rivera painted an important mural right next door in the Rectoria building, where he depicted Mexico’s struggle for freedom and culture. 

The Central Library at UNAM is covered in huge mosaic murals by Juan O’Gorman, done very much in the spirit of Diego Rivera. Each side of the building tells a different chapter of Mexican history — pre-Hispanic life, the colonial period, modern Mexico, and the story of the university itself. Rivera didn’t create these mosaics, but his influence is all over them: the focus on Indigenous culture, a look at colonization, and the celebration of workers, science, and education. 

Together, the murals on the library and Rectoria form one of the strongest public-art statements in the country.

We made our way from the library to MUAC through the theatre district. The museum itself was excellent. The standout was a “womb” installation built from compacted earth it was quiet, dim, and very  immersive, it was like stepping into a geological exhibit.

 

Tamyao Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum

I will do a few posts to catch up. Kerry and I spent time in Chapultepec Park visiting the Tamayo Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum. The Tamayo focuses on modern and contemporary works, many from international artists, housed in a simple but striking concrete building surrounded by trees. 

The Contemporary Art Museum, right next door, features major Mexican artists like Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Rufino Tamayo himself, along with rotating exhibits that tie Mexico’s past to its modern identity. Both museums are manageable in size and thoughtfully curated — a quiet, reflective contrast to the bustle of the park outside.