The rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Leonardo Lomelí Venegas; the ambassador of Spain, Juan Duarte Cuadrado, and the head of the Office of the Presidency, Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, inaugurated the exhibition Exiliadas de España: Artists in Mexico at the San Ildefonso School.
In front of women and men involved with the Spanish exile, rector Lomelí stated that the exhibition is testimony of the bravery of those who, forced to abandon their homes by the horrors of the Spanish civil war and the Franco dictatorship, found in Mexico not only a refuge, but also a new home and a canvas on which to capture their dreams, struggles and desires.
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The exhibition, which includes nearly 200 works by 30 artists, and which will be open until the end of April 2025, was also attended by engineer Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, son of former president Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, whom the rector remembered for opening the doors of the country to the Spanish exiles, thereby giving a lasting example of international solidarity.
▲ Design for the Galas de México poster, by Manuela Ballester, 1940. Oil on chipboard. Soumaya Museum Collection/Carlos Slim Foundation.
The rector of UNAM highlighted the value of the exhibition in the face of constant migratory and humanitarian crises, as it reminds us of the immense value that displaced people bring to the societies where they build a home.
He added that, in a time of divisions, art can be a link between cultures, a reminder of our shared humanity and a powerful tool for building networks of cooperation.
Ambassador Duarte thanked the Cárdenas family for having welcomed the exiles to Mexico. He argued that Spain is not understood without Mexico and Mexico is not understood without the Spanish exile.
Representing the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Lázaro Cárdenas Batel expressed that it was a privilege to attend the opening of the exhibition that celebrates women who contributed a lot to our country and Spain, recognizes the cultural strength of both nations and highlights the human solidarity and brotherhood that unites its peoples, and that will never be broken.