La Jornada: This is not DF vindicates the cultures that are produced in the peripheries

The exhibition is presented in the Central Gallery of the National Center for the Arts (CNA). This is not DF, which proposes a reflection on the place that emerging art occupies in a context marked by migration, urban transformation and the inequalities that cross cultural production.

The exhibition functions as a portrait of artists who build community and produce from territories far from the main artistic circuits. The curatorship was carried out by the Hooogar collective, whose work focuses on “understanding and investigating” contemporary culture in Mexico.

Through this exhibition, the collective aims to portray the cultures that converge in Mexico City and make visible artists who contribute to that diversity without necessarily belonging to the capital.

The exhibition pays special attention to creators who live in the urban peripheries and who, despite their active participation in the art scene, are often left out of the most visible exhibition spaces.

Furthermore, it questions the historical centralization of art in Mexico City. For Hooogar, one of the main motivations was to show the reality of many artists who must constantly move to the capital to develop their work. “The majority of them do not live in Mexico City, they have to move to be present and develop within the art world. We were interested in portraying that reality and recognizing the cultures that are produced from the margins and peripheries,” they noted in an interview with The Day.

Far from presenting artists as victims of an unequal system, the exhibition positions them as agents capable of transforming uncertainty into visual proposals. The works dialogue about identity, territory, collective memory and the social tensions that mark a new generation of creators.

One of the relevant works belongs to Elihu Gori, who presents False sheltera painting that reflects on change and the loss of certainties. The work shows a character immersed in a constant transformation, accompanied by a lit candle that symbolizes wear and tear and the passage of time. For Gori, the piece represents the uncertainty that accompanies the processes of personal and urban transformation. “Painting is like jumping into the void,” he said.

The reflection connects with the daily experience of those who live in the city and its surroundings: accelerated urban changes, long journeys and conditions that require permanent adaptation. In that context, This is not DF proposes that emerging art is built from collaboration, resistance and community networks.

The exhibition concludes on June 7 in the Central Gallery of the CNA and can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.