CITÁMBULOS
Journey to the Mexican Megalopolis
DAZ_AGENDA
24. Juli 2008 - 21. September 2008
Exhibition in the DAZ_Scharoun Saal
Tue to Fri 12am - 7pm, Sat + Sun 2 - 7pm. Free entrance.
Opening on July, 24 2008
Opening: 8 pm
Speakers:
Representative of the Berlin Senate
S.E. Jorge Castro-Valle K., Ambassador of Mexico in Germany
Wolfgang Nowak, Alfred Herrhausen Society
Citámbulos, Curators
Kristien Ring, Director DAZ
Accompanying program:
Colloquium 19.09.2008, 10 am – 5.30 pm at DAZ Taut Saal
“CITAMBULOS_Urban Strategies, a Mexico City – Berlin Dialogue”
A dialogue between experts from Mexico City and Berlin will present informal urban strategies on one side and formal governance of the other. The discussion will focus on current political challenges and planning strategies.
Public lecture 19.09.2008, 5.30 am – 6.15 pm at DAZ Taut Saal
“Operational System Mexico: on the Mexican megalopolis”
José Castillo, Director, Arquitectura 911sc and Professor, Universidad Iberoamericana School of Architecture, Mexico City. Curatorial advisor of the CITÀMBULOS exhibition for the Alfred Herrhausen Society.
followed by a reception and finissage of the CITÀMBULOS exhibition
Filmfestival Mexican short- and feature films. Program on www.daz.de.
Mexico City is an exemplary case for diverse strategies dealing with the challenges of globalisation. The exhibition “Citámbulos” presents the city through a number of specific locations, situations and processes. The exhibition will focus on the city’s people and how they are adapting their daily lives to urban processes in their vicinity, and how they are shaping their own physical environment.
The exhibition “Citámbulos” is arranged along a travelogue through daily life in Mexico City which appeals to all the senses. “Citámbulos”, the research collective by the same name, has assembled statements from artists, planners and architects for this presentation which provide insights into urban phenomena that are characteristic for Mexico City and also serve as relevant models within the context of a wider discussion on the future of megacities worldwide. The spontaneous and creative way in which people deal with the city’s problems in a context of urban expansion and globalisation are as much part of the exhibit as are the reactions to the challenges of urban densification by professional architects and planners. “Citámbulos” presents these phenomena through a variety of media to form an overall portrait of the megalopolis that is Mexico City.
Background
Mexico City comprising more than 20 million inhabitants for the capital region and environs is one of the biggest cities in the world. Increasing urbanisation worldwide will ultimately affect everyone. Experts from the “Urban Age” research project into the future of cities in a global context have defined the 21st century as the age of cities, where more than 50 percent of the world’s population now live. The complexity and radical transformation of life in the globalised megacities is attracting increasing attention from artists, architects, designers and landscapers, too. Mexico City occupies an exemplary position here, and the profusion of its very own phenomena of urbanisation has become a unique source of creative and professional inspiration.
Exhibition
The research collective “Citámbulos” has designed this exhibition by the same name like an excursion to Mexico City that takes you through an experience of daily life there. You will be able to comprehend the complexity and scale of the city and learn how to manoeuvre its urban spaces. These impressions are recreated by structuring the exhibition along the lines of a public transport system based on Mexico City’s metro network. There are six thematic lines with 32 stops along a number of characteristic phenomena which visitors will be able to see, hear and sense. Each line represents a complex analysis of one specific aspect of the city. “Metro Lines” named "Overflow", "Urban Jungle", "Radical Identities", "Gaps", "Arena Mexico" and "Multi Purpose". will expose Mexico City in its rapid expansion, the impact this has on public spaces and the environment, and illustrate the kind of strategies people develop in defining their cultural identity, their position with officialdom and their daily survival. Specific phenomena where several, overlapping themes apply will be marked by intersections. This interdisciplinary and experimental exhibit is presented through a variety of media: video work, photography, sound installation, sculptures, maps, plans, drawings and descriptive texts are combined to create an exciting, interactive portrait of Mexico City.
Publication on Citambulos
A 348-page catalogue publication “Citamblers – the Incidence of the Remarkable, Guide to the Marvels of Mexico City”, edited by Ana Álvarez, Valentina Rojas Loa and Christian von Wissel, has appeared with Editorial Cultura sin Fondos México and is on sale at EUR 32 (ISBN 9 789 709 53 5501).
The exhibition is a collaboration of the DAZ, the research collective ‘Citámbulos’ (Mexico City) and the Alfred Herrhausen Society, Berlin and is under the patronage of the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit.
Images:
1. Mexico City, photo: Dante Busquets
2. „Citambulos/Citambler“, photo / projekt: Ana Álvarez (Citámbulos): Citamblers explore unique phenomena in public spaces on their journey through the megalopolis.
3. „Two million homes for Mexico“, photo: Livia Corona (winner of Sony World Photography Awards 2008, category architecture): View over one of the multitudinous residental developments in the suburbs of Mexico City.
4. „Ciudad Milusos / Multipurpose City“, photo: Citámbulos: Everyday objects are recycled as building materials, for instance plastic boxes assembled as a wall.
5. „Central de Abastos“, photo: Ana Álvarez (Citámbulos): Central market of Mexico City and also the biggest Market of Latin America.
