Todos Santos is
filled with hidden gems if you know where to look.
And one of these treasures are the grand Murals in the lobby of the
local Centro Cultural Nestor Agundez. If you can imagine
what Todos Santos was like in the 1930s, these murals will surprise
you. Todos Santos was a dusty town on the Mexican frontier, far from
the centers of culture. And yet it was touched by part of a huge art
movement that changed the course of history. The dramatic murals were
painted in 1933 during the height of the Mexican Mural Movement and
are a source of local pride and a cultural treasure of Baja California
Sur.
After the Mexican Revolution of 1910 - which stretched into 10 years
of civil war - the country began rebuilding in the 1920s. President
Alvaro Obregon’s government began a new socialist-inspired direction.
They commissioned public works of art - Murals - to help educate people
about their culture & history. Mural painters like Diego
Rivera, David Siqueiros & Jose Orozco conceived of a new style
of art that celebrated Mexican heritage from early Mesoamerica through
the Revolution. Their murals rejected European style and showed New
World imagery, full of color and human activity.
They glorified contemporary Amerindians and farmers tilling the soil.
The muralists were motivated by the socialist idea that art should
be public and accessible to everyone. Like the Aztecs & Mayans
who painted on the walls of their temples & tombs, Mexican muralists
took on the vast walls of governmental buildings. Government-sponsored
murals of the ‘20s & ‘30s were painted in public buildings
in towns & cities across Mexico.
That’s where the Todos Santos murals came in. The building that
houses the Centro Cultural was originally one of the new rural schools
built by President Obregon to bring education to the farthest reaches
of Mexico. And in 1933 an artist came from mainland Mexico to work
with the children of the Escuela
Normal Rural to create the murals.
The murals were painted during the summer of 1933 and the names of
the students appear on each panel. Some of these students, including
the mother of current INAH director Jorge Amao M., are still alive
today and remember working on the murals in the hot months of July,
August & September that year. The west wall shows scenes
from Baja’s history, the original Indian inhabitants, a ship
of the Conquistadors and the Franciscan monks of the missionary period.
That wall also shows revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata and below
him his famous words, “The land belongs to those who work it”.
Surrounding Zapata are allegorical female figures representing: La
Bandera (the flag), The shield (eagle & snake), Education, the
ideals of the French Revolution (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite), revolutionary
fighters and farmers. The North Wall (around the front doors) shows
rural values – farming and the importance of education. The
East Wall shows the workers of Mexico.
The extreme Baja weather – hurricanes and strong sunlight –
have taken their toll on the murals and they need serious restoration
to be saved from further water damage and to be brought
back to their original vibrant colors.
Two other walls of murals were also painted at that time but are too
damaged to be repaired, reminding us how urgent it is to save these
in the lobby of the building. The Palapa Society A.C, is a Mexican
non-profit group in Todos Santos that is taking on the task. It is
chartered as a community service organization to create cultural and
educational programs for the benefit of all. Working with the Municipio
of La Paz (under which Todos Santos falls) and the National Institute
of Art and History (INAH), the Palapa Society is planning to hire
a highly-qualified restorer for the project. Through fund-raising
and art restoration grants these murals will tell their story again
vibrantly, and be preserved for future generations
who visit the Centro Cultural.
Meanwhile, come and visit the murals for yourself! The Centro Cultural
is a grand brick building on Calle Juarez, across the street from
the town’s only bank. And as Professor Nestor Agundez, the Director
and guiding spirit of the Centro Cultural, says, “It is open
to all persons of good will who wish to visit, because culture and
art are universal.”
Written
by Lynn Ballen
For
more information about the Mural Restoration Project, call 01-612-145-
0219. All donations to
The Palapa Society, A.C. are tax deductible in Mexico or the US
via our partner, the International Community
Foundation
Return
to Palapa Society
Official Website