World Wall in Mexico City at the International Book Fair
The World Wall: A Vision of the World Without Fear
Premieres in Mexico at the Sixth Annual Mexico City Book Fair
October 6–15, 2006
The WORLD WALL will premiere in Mexico at the Sixth Annual Mexico City Book Fair, October 6 – 15th. Each year, during the ten days of the fair the Zócalo (town square) and the surrounding historical district are transformed into venues that celebrate reading and culture. The event, organized by the offices of Dr. Raquel Sosa, Secretary of Culture for Mexico City, brings together one million people in more than six hundred activities. The Fair is a place for authors, intellectuals, artists, and educational and cultural institutions to compare experiences, debate possibilities, and establish a nexus for the production and dissemination of cultural projects. All activities are free and open to the general public.
The Fair invites two cities to participate: this year Los Angeles and Havana are the invited guests. An artist’s walk will be created through the streets of the Historical District, with exhibitions of sculpture, murals, photography, installations, and graffiti on view. The Mexico City government invited Chicana artist, educator, SPARC Artistic Director and Co-founder Judith F. Baca, one of America’s leading muralists, to speak and exhibit the WORLD WALL at the fair.
“I am thrilled and honored to have the WORLD WALL presented for the first time in Mexico. Over the last 30 years, as a visual artist, I have been involved in every aspect of the production of large scale wall paintings and public art projects. I have concentrated on using the creative process through group imaging techniques and community research associated with the production of works of monumental scale to develop models for the transformation of both physical and social environments” said Judith F. Baca.
The WORLD WALL is a traveling installation mural, conceived by Chicana mural artist Judith F. Baca and coordinated by Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), celebrating 30 years of community-based, participatory public arts projects. The WORLD WALL consists of eight 10 feet by 30 feet portable panels which envision a transformation from a war-based society to a peaceful one.
Four of the panels are works by Judith F. Baca: Triumph of the Heart, Nonviolent Resistance, Balance, and Triumph of the Hands. A team from Finland, Sirkka-Lisa Lonka, Aaro Matinlauri, and Juha Saaski painted Dialogue of Alternatives. Alexi
Begov, a native Russian artist, with the assistance of Vladimir Jegolenkov painted The End of the Twentieth Century. The Palestinian-Israeli team consisting of Ahmed Bweerat, Suliman Monsour, and Adi Yekutieli painted Inheritance-Compromise. Two Mexican muralists, Martha Ramirez Oropeza and Patricia Quijano painted Tlazolteotl: Creative Force of the Un-Woven.
