Manifesto MX: Group of Artists Use Graffiti to Protest in Mexico City
A street-art initiative brought a group of graffiti artists from Mexico and around the world to transform Mexico City into a hub of urban protest, making the country's social and political issues a permanent visible topic, Fusion reports.
Manifesto MX aims at making Mexico's issue a "permanent tattoo" across the capital's buildings and walls.
Artists plan to make all concerns visible including the recent disappearance of the 43 students from a teacher's college, according to the project coordinator, Liliana Carpintero.
Several property owners agreed to let almost a dozen street artists "test the limits of Mexican free speech" by covering their buildings with graffiti and protest murals.
"Young people have been receptive, but older citizens remain worried about what an artist might paint on their walls," Carpintero said.
"Mexico was oppressed for a long time and we are just beginning to get accustomed to an era of openness and democracy."
The project director said artists are encouraged to express many issues in Mexico including neoliberalism.
Yet, some property owners have already shown that they are not too comfortable with all that the artists have to offer.
One shop owner requested that Italian street artist "Ericailcane" cover a part of their mural black to replace an image of the Mexican flag. In the mural, a monkey is holding two Mexican pesos wrapped in the Mexican flag, soon to be a black cloth.
Artists from around South America contributed to the initiative such as Colombian artist "Bastardilla" who previously tagged buildings in Madrid, Guatemala and Boston.
Argentine artist "JAZ" tagged a wall with a re-make of Mexico's national crest of an eagle eating a snake. JAZ's work can be found in Buenos Aires dating back to the mid-90s. Mexican artist "Ciler" manipulates the county's symbol of the snake and the eagle as well.
Another Mexican artist, Edgar Saner, joined the initiative as well with his style of mixing traditional and contemporary images.
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