The heritage of Mexico City is extremely rich and diverse due to a long history that overlays like layers above the urban fabric since pre-Hispanic times. Currently, it is one of the largest cities in the world, and its heritage is reflected in its architecture, museums, historical sites, cultural traditions, protected sites, gastronomy, and much more. This chronology has been evidenced through various historical records. However, contemporary recording is essential in moments where we are writing history immediately with different digital tools.
In this sense, over the past few years, Mexican photographer Santiago Arau has taken on the task of documenting life in Mexico City from the air. He has captured landscapes, outdoor concerts, marches, and protests, as well as the periphery and the surrounding volcanoes. He aims to understand how the natural heritage relates to the built heritage in a city where the boundaries between these two elements are becoming increasingly blurred.
This arduous work has resulted in an individual exhibition titled "Heritage," currently on display on the third floor of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the National Museum of Architecture in Mexico City until January 2024. The renowned photographer's work showcases unlikely perspectives that surprise viewers, often depicting common places. Additionally, it provides commentary on economic, political, environmental, and social issues. Simultaneously, a homonymous book is being presented, marking a milestone in the history of architectural heritage in the Valley of Mexico.
The project consists of around 200 photographs taken between 2015 and 2023 with the purpose of exploring the heritage of the Valley of Mexico – its geography and its culture – and representing the state of this heritage in the present. The narrative begins with the volcanoes of a city surrounded and built upon them, including the most well-known like Popocatépetl. This personal quest led Santiago to discover some lesser-known ones that had assimilated into the urban environment. The photographs depict craters hosting soccer fields, agricultural fields, landfills, and even housing.
The research changed my understanding of the relationship between people and volcanoes. Before photographing them, I perceived them as something separate from the human city, geological elements floating above the metropolis. Now, I have witnessed the many ways in which volcanoes have been incorporated and absorbed by the city, becoming part of the environment.
Currently, Mexico City, formerly known as the Federal District, sprawls over a monstrous gray expanse of approximately 1,485 km² in the central-southern region, constituting 0.1% of the country's total area. It is geographically bordered by the State of Mexico and Morelos. Despite appearing as a minuscule territory compared to other states, this area has been the most significant center at the national level for five centuries and one of the most competitive internationally.
With nearly 22,000,000 people, today the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico is considered one of the most densely populated urban agglomerations in the world. This city serves as the primary hub for tourism, education, culture, economy, and politics in the country, making it one of the best landscapes to discover significant works of contemporary public architecture.
A space for reflection is presented, aiming to coexist with the venue and the permanent murals on the museum's floors. The story begins with natural heritage, such as volcanoes and lakes, transitioning to the built heritage in the pre-Hispanic period, the conquest, and independence. It briefly explores the 20th and 21st centuries, concluding with a dedicated space to memory.
Santiago Arau's work is a much-needed perspective that aims to move from the digital to the tangible, turning contemplation into a physical act to halt time and deeply examine these photographs on various scales. The act of constructing memory, not forgetting, of presenting alternative ways of seeing is essential.
My intention here is to showcase those things that have been relegated to oblivion. The irony is that the lakes were drained to make way for the city, but without them, the city struggles to survive. To sustain its twenty million inhabitants, Mexico City must constantly pump water into the aquifer, a dramatic act that is causing land subsidence. Today, the city is sinking. A region once rich in water is now desperately thirsty.
The exhibition is accompanied by a homonymous book that can be purchased directly at the museum.
I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I always wanted: tell stories through photographs. Every day, for over two years, I have thought about this book—how to put it together, how to solve the puzzle by editing texts, and finding the right sequence of photos to see the city with new eyes. I have tried to visually narrate some events, such as the 2017 earthquake, the anti-monuments to the disappeared students, and the climate crisis, which hangs perpetually over Mexico City in the form of thick atmospheric pollution. This book will be printed at a time when technology has accelerated life's pace to such an extent that experiences outside the digital realm are becoming increasingly rare. Thank you for taking the time to stop.
For more information visit Santiago Arau's profile.
