UNAM seeks to bring young people closer to research with a sample about Siqueiros

The life of the muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), related to the great social movements of three quarters of the 20th century, including several imprisonments in the Lecumberri Palace, will serve as a hook to attract the attention of young people and the general public to research and the importance of safeguarding documents.

The exhibition Siqueiros, imprison the flare: Traveling exhibition of the General Archive of the Nation, of around 30 writings, such as the “public version” of the file prepared on the occasion of his last confinement, in 1960, accused of the crime of “social dissolution”, and photographs, will open on February 4 in the Teresita de Barbieri Library of the Institute of Social Research (IIS), of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

The exhibition was originally organized by the General Archive of the Nation (AGN) in 2019, and consisted of more than 200 documents.

The exhibition seeks to awaken the curiosity of young people, as well as “promote a link that leads them not only to the consultation and use of secondary sources, but also to research in primary sources in archives such as the AGN,” says Karina Villegas Terán, coordinator of the exhibition with Jorge Alberto Mejía Ruiz, head of the IIS library. The figure of Siqueiros, his intellectual and political career, and above all the aesthetic power of his work, “give us an exceptional opportunity to generate that approach.”

Imprison the flare offers a chronological and thematic reading of moments in the life of the artist and activist that are “intimately linked to his income in Lecumberri, as well as to the political and social life of the country.”

In photographs included in the book They called me the Colonel A young revolutionary Siqueiros is seen. The tour continues with his intervention in the Spanish Civil War, through images captured during his participation on the Republican side.

There are also records, upon his return to Mexico, of his imprisonment for his role in the failed assassination attempt on León Trosky.

The main core of the exhibition focuses on the 50s and 60s, with images mainly of the railroad movements, the arrests of leaders such as Demetrio Vallejo and, finally, his confinement in 1960 that earned him four years in Lecumberri prison until receiving a presidential pardon in 1964.

“From our perspective, young people are sometimes distanced from art and libraries, which they see as something foreign. Bringing this exhibition is so that visitors can touch documents such as the file of their last admission to prison, and at the same time get to know the library specialized in social issues.”

The historian adds that the exhibition not only talks about the times that Siqueiros was in prison, but is a “pretext to learn the history of Mexico in the 20th century. When we review the history of the artist, we also do so about the life of the country.”

For Villegas Terán, the muralist is “the representation of art brought to the politics of the reconstruction of the nation after the Mexican Revolution.” Like other characters of the last century, he had a cause: “to serve the country. We want to attract young people so that they know this.”

According to Mejía Ruiz, the exhibition is a way to “bring Siqueiros once again to the university.” Remember that he is the author of the mural New university symbol (1952-1953), located on the eastern façade of the Rectory Tower of Ciudad Universitaria, which was intervened last year in order to improve its physical stability and recover its aesthetic reading. Setting up an exhibition is a way of “moving” the library and, therefore, the entire IIS.

Talía Santana Quintero, technical secretary of the institute, points out that its library is specialized; So, “sometimes young people feel intimidated to approach him.” An exhibition invites you to take photos and see the artist not only in a “state of vulnerability,” but also in “joy, painting and writing.”

Siqueiros, imprison the flare It will be exhibited from February 4 to March 20, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the UNAM Social Research Institute (Master Mario de la Cueva circuit, no number, City of Research in the Humanities, University City).

The exhibition includes parallel activities to be announced. Admission is free.