In 1931, Mexican artist José Clemente Orozco painted a mural in New York City that portrayed a world in which the forces of fascism and revolution were fighting for supremacy. Orozco chose to focus on four countries: India, China, the Soviet Union, and Mexico.
In the XXIst Century new problems, social actors and art expressions arise that make almost impossible to equal the spirit of time in two different locations within the same country. Therefore, Creative Cities reduces its exploration to the relation between space and creativity in three urban environments.
Although we try to avoid comparisons because we consider them to be misleading and reductive,
we had to face our own limitations in order to select the cities.
The reason we decided to focus on Beijing, Mexico City and New Delhi are the following:
All three are both political capitals and art centers.
The worlds attention to their art production seems to be paralleled to the world's attention of the economic performance of the country.
Each city is a microcosm of the countries’ internal affairs.
Foreign cultural actors and institutions play an
active role in the local cultural life.
The impact of cultural policies or lack of them can
be perceived in the nature of their art scenes.
... and above all: We had the support of old and new friends that facilitated our exploration!
