The Palacio de Bellas Artes Museum, in Mexico City, is recognized for its impressive collection of murals made by prominent Mexican artists, such as Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco, Roberto Montenegro, Manuel Rodríguez Lozano and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Each of these works reflects the rich history and culture of Mexico, in addition to the fact that the muralists captured political, social and cultural aspects of the country.
The federal Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal) presented the project Transpositions on May 18, within the framework of International Museum Day through the Palace of Fine Arts Museum. The initiative is part of Overflowing Muralism Vol. 2: Polyangularwhich consists of a multidisciplinary experimentation laboratory inspired by the Mexican muralist movement.
“This project was born last year, it is called ‘Overflowing Muralism’. For the 2024 version we wanted to invite contemporary artists who could generate this dialogue with a critical perspective with the permanent collection from an interdisciplinary perspective. And by inviting Julieta Gil who works in digital art, the idea arose of generating simulations with certain repertoires of the history of these murals,” explained Brian Smith Hudson, associate curator.
Transpositionsby Julieta Gil, was made in collaboration with Pablo Martínez. This is the first activation developed specifically for the museum.
The Mexican artist, using 3D modeling and animations, takes the audience to an immersive experience, which shows the rooms that once housed three of the most representative murals of the Palacio de Bellas Artes Museum. allegory of the wind (1928), by Roberto Montenegro; Carnival of Mexican life (1936), by Diego Rivera; and Pity in the desert (1942), by Manuel Rodríguez Lozano.
“The one by Diego Rivera, for example, which is the ‘Carnival of Mexican Life’, was painted for the Antiguo Hotel Reforma, the one by Roberto Montenegro was painted at the Old College of San Pedro and San Pablo. And ‘Pity in the Desert’ was painted in the Lecumberri Penitentiary,” said Gil.
According to the museum and Julieta Gil, this practice takes place in three parts: “Behind”, “Conglomerate” and “The palaces are always palimpsests”, and will take place in different spaces of the premises.
For his part, Pablo Martínez detailed the challenges they faced at the time of creation; he was the one in charge of the sound. “The development of the piece is by Julieta and she invites me to collaborate, on my part it is an accompaniment. “One of the challenges is a more technical component, which is trying to bring fragments of those buildings and convert them into 3D objects.”
With the work it is possible to explore part of the history of Mexico and the muralists. To live the experience it is necessary to access it with the QR codes distributed in the lobby and mural area, as well as on the museum’s website.
“It was interesting for us to explore that concept, that these murals were part of other architectures and then they came here. We are interested in tracing all that history,” explained Julieta Gil.
Transpositions It is a proposal that rethinks research methodologies and the conception of what heritage is. It also invites us to question the origin and purpose of monumentsas well as to identify its meaning in public space.
As you watch people interact with the murals and let themselves be carried away by the experience, history comes to life. A clear example happened when a small child accompanied by his mother accessed the digital space through a tablet. Who were surprised to see the walls to which it belonged in augmented reality Carnival of Mexican life, at the same time they were listening the voice of Diego Riveraexplaining what art is.
That moment makes it clear that these types of initiatives encourage the audience to investigate and become more involved with the history of art in Mexico.
