Today I decided to venture out of my own neighborhood and go to a place where the really awesome murals are. This place is question can be found along the street H. Congreso de la Unión, where the Metro Line 4 runs, not underground as in most sections, but elevated above street level. I took a walk between the metro stops Jamaica and Candelaria, where each pillar supporting the metro is painted with interesting murals, to share the best of them here.
Many of them feature some of the insurgent heroes of the independence movement, I briefly mentioned in my post about Independence Day. The ones pictured here are Hidalgo, Morelos, Guerrero, and Allende.
Some others show images from the Revolution, such as Zapata, and a child soldier whose famous photograph served as the basis for this mural.
Other images deal with the loss of nature to growing urbanization, a topic just as important to many people, as their national heroes from past centuries.
Some murals were of course highly politicized, addressing contemporary issues. The first of these shows Subcomandante Marcos, former leader of the Zapatista movement EZLN. In the next picture the eagle, apparently symbol of not just the state but its people, is being brutalized by the police in riot gear, representing the state. The lady coming to its defense has her face covered by a red bandana, which more than likely stands for the resistance movement. In the lower left picture socialists protesting against structural reforms of education, energy, etc. are running into a wall of resistance from the political establishment in form of obedient dogs, death-skulls, and blood-sucking insects with swastikas. Finally, the most recent and most political mural features the Mexican eagle sitting on Trump who's waving a Nazi flag. The words Mr. Trump better respect Mexico and damn racist crazy explain the rest.
Many of the murals, however, are not even trying to be political in any sense. Instead they offer glimpses of the imagination of their artists, whether they are dealing with guitars and cactuses, mushrooms and jaguars, life between death and rebirth, or a cute little indigenous girl. In some way each and every one of these pieces of art is truly and uniquely Mexican. My favorite is probably the king playing a pretzel-shaped tuba, catching croissants falling out of the sky.
If you liked this, check out my developing series on Mexican Murals: