La Esmeralda graduates invite us to rethink identity in uncertain times.

▲ Mariana Dussel and Keila Marsán are two of the 50 artists exhibiting their pieces in the Cenart Central Gallery. Photo courtesy of Luis Albarrán

Barbara Hoyos

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, p. 4

The National Center for the Arts (Cenart) became a space for reflection with the exhibition "Instrucciones en blanco" (White Instructions), which brings together 50 visual artists who recently graduated from the La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving.

The exhibition in the venue's Central Gallery offers a diverse view of artistic creation, exploring current themes and techniques.

Blank Instructions is a platform for contemporary creators to share their visions and perspectives. The exhibition reflects the dynamism and creativity of this new generation, which entered the scene in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Their initial process was through screens, without meeting each other physically, much less interacting.

As an art school, practical training in the workshop is essential. The use of tools, materials, and work ethic helped them build character and master their technique.

Although participants were unable to access the facilities for two years, this is not reflected in the pieces on display. They stated that these works are not only a reflection of their individual experiences, but also an invitation to rethink the human condition in times of uncertainty .

In their pieces, the artists have reflected their experiences during this period. Their proposals focus on narrating the rupture of identities and the search for ways to overcome experienced traumas. They also explore their relationship with their bodies and the need to reconnect with society after long periods of isolation.

Artist Keila Marsán creates an installation featuring testimonies from women who have used the morning-after pill, sharing both positive and negative stories that highlight the taboo surrounding this practice. Through finely suspended letters, she uses the written word and textiles as envelopes to provoke reflection on their lived reality.

Mariana Dussel presents her piece "Remembrance of a Sofa," a reflection on the meaning of everyday objects and the memories they evoke. For her, more than just a piece of furniture, the object is a container for memories and emotions that have shaped her life.

Over the course of three years, I developed a process of introspection and healing through actions that explored the relationship between the body and uncomfortable memories , the artist shared. She subsequently took the object to a greenhouse, where she transformed it and then buried it in a cemetery, as a symbol of her desire to release and bury painful memories.

I want to invite the viewer to reflect on how these memories can be processed and assimilated, and how the body is capable of being a medium for healing and emotional release , he said.

The work on display by Elihu Gori is an oil painting that reinterprets the classic theme of the birth of Venus. In his version, he replaced the goddess with a clam, symbolizing the origin of life on the planet.

According to the artist, these mollusks are considered the first beings to give life to the planet, making this work a powerful metaphor for rebirth and connection with the body. Through this representation, he invites the viewer to reflect on the relationship between the body and the environment, where sensory and tactile experience becomes fundamental to understanding our existence.

Sergio Ricaño, director of La Esmeralda, attended the meeting and said: “They are a generation that has been hit hard by the pandemic. They have had to navigate through challenges in every sense, even within the institution, but with their digital needs, they have managed to overcome everything. They are 'fighters' against an entire structure that has not benefited them,” he commented.

The exhibition "Instructions in White" will remain open to the public until July 27 at the Cenart Central Gallery (79 Río Churubusco Avenue, Country Club neighborhood, Coyoacán City Hall) from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

▲ President Claudia Sheinbaum and the head of the capital's government, Clara Brugada, jointly announced the news yesterday from the National Palace. Photo: Presidential Office

Emir Olivares and Iván E. Saldaña

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, p. 5

The ancient Mexicans told in their stories that in the year 2 Casa (1325, in the Gregorian calendar) the great city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded.

Based on these narratives, this year marks seven centuries since the founding of the city that was built on the lake in the Valley of Anahuac, at the foot of the volcanoes, and which eventually became the country's largest city: Mexico City.

At yesterday's morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada announced from the National Palace a series of activities that will take place this month to celebrate the end of the exodus of the people who left Aztlán in search of the prophecy.

Celebrate this moment of recognition of the year of the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, one of the last great civilizations that fell due to the Spanish invasion, and that must be vindicated, because for years there was also this idea that the Conquest was civilizing, and it is not true: it was an invasion, whose objective was to end the great civilizations that existed in our territory , highlighted the head of the federal Executive.

It will be a new celebration of the founding of the ancient city, as in 2021 then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador led the first commemorative ceremony of the seven centuries since that historic date.

Although we celebrated with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2021, 2025 is the formal date they have recognized as the city's founding, although there is also evidence of this in 2021. Several activities are coming up in Mexico City in conjunction with this important event , the federal leader stated.

Lorena Vázquez Vallín, a researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), explained that sources indicate several historical moments in which the great Tenochtitlan could have been established, but clarified: July 26 will mark the 700th anniversary of its founding. The date of 1325 has been one of the most accepted for the creation of our great city. It is not the only date, but it is the most frequently mentioned in historical sources, although other relevant years are mentioned .

He recalled that the migration that led to the founding of ancient Tenochtitlan was motivated by a hierophany: that people had to settle where they found an eagle—representing the god of war—perched on a cactus, devouring a snake—a metaphor for their enemies.

While there will be activities throughout part of this month, the 26th was chosen because it marks the second zenithal passage of the Sun over ancient Tenochtitlan; this date is of utmost importance. There is a significant tradition of celebrations on the second day of the Sun's zenithal passage within the traditions of the large cities of central Mexico, and Tenochtitlan was no exception , indicated the INAH researcher.

For her part, the head of government of Mexico City detailed some of the activities: on July 26, the performance " Mexico-Tenochtitlan: Seven Centuries of Legacy of Greatness" will be held in Mexico City's Zócalo.

That day, the Tlalmanalli monument will be unveiled in the northeast corner of the Zócalo square, almost opposite the Marian Gate of the National Palace. It is a commemorative evocation of seven centuries of the ideal identity of the greatness of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

Additionally, from July 11 to 27, a video will be projected over the National Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral, depicting the story of the Mexica exodus to the Valley of Anahuac; the film opera "Cuauhtemoczin" will be presented at Bellas Artes and in the Plaza de la Constitución, among other activities.

The head of the INAH, Diego Prieto Hernández, emphasized: "This is a year of celebration for the governments of Mexico and the capital, for all Mexicans, because we are proud to have this great city, which is currently experiencing exciting and promising moments of transformation.

(It commemorates) that for 204 years it has been the capital of an independent and sovereign country; that 500 years ago it suffered the onslaught of Spanish occupation and its lamentable fall; that 700 years ago it began to stand out in the Valley of Mexico as a great political center that prevailed throughout most of the territory we know as Mesoamerica , he concluded.

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Europa Press

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, p. 5

Cateura, a work by the Andalusian company Alas Circo Teatro, fuses dance, circus arts, and music to attract new audiences in the Iberian region. The multidisciplinary piece also uses object manipulation and movement to reflect on the impact and journey of waste on the planet, from its origin in homes and streets to its final destination in landfills and oceans, with the aim of redirecting efforts toward a sustainable world that is kinder to all living beings.