Manifesto Project Mexico 2015

Since the beginning of February large political charged street art murals have been populating the walls of Mexico City. Local and international street artists were invited by Fifty24MX  gallery for the Manifesto Project which addresses the concerns of the social and political situation in Mexico, once again utilising street art as an invaluable social tool to propose, reflect and inform.

The Manifesto project addresses the uncomfortable issues of Mexican society. No specific issue was targeted and the street artists were encouraged to look at issues such as the increasing poverty and depression amongst the Mexico population, the exhausting of natural resources, the ‘un’social web , glorified materialism, a dysfunctional justice system and the violent events which that happened in the state of Guerrero on September 26th 2014 which involved the local authorities and resulted in the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students, feared dead. This situation exposed a crisis in the power structures of Mexico and shaken the world. People now want to speak out, and the best form is through art.

“Our manifesto is evolutionary, not revolutionary as contemporary philosophers like Ken Wilber propose that to face a global crisis and the problems that we collectively have as a species, we need to move from the egocentric state to a world-centric state. We declare our selves, warriors of the possible. We speak out and say that our purposes will be reached by the collapse of the obsolete conscious social order. Let us all join at the idea of a new social and spiritual evolution! Fifty24MX”

Fifty24MX enlisted the help of local shop owners to donate the walls of their buildings to the Manifesto project. Check out the walls below depicting powerful issues within the Mexican country.

 Native to Mexico City, street artist Ciler, uses the iconic symbols of his country, an eagle having caught a snake, to critique the violence of Mexican society.

Ciler, Manifesto 2015

Ciler, Manifesto 2015

Jaz, an artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, re imagines Mexico’s national crest in combat reflecting on the current conflict of the Mexican people against their government with fighting beasts and blacked out images representing opposition and defiance.

Jaz, Manifesto 2015

This child breaking a gun was painted by Bastardilla, a prolific Colombian street artist. Her second mural depicts cherubic writers with pencils for arrows afloat on a open book signed ‘vivos los queremos’, ‘alive we want’ circled by alligators in choppy waters. Representing the fight for freedom of speech and for the forty three students who disappeared.

Bastardilla, Manifesto 2015

Bastardilla, Manifesto 2015

A mural by Blu, an Italian artist, shows Mexican and American toy soldiers lining a Mexican flag made by green dollars, white cocaine in lines, and dripping red blood. A powerful political statement in regards to how drug money, the cocaine industry, and blood are all backed by the Mexican government.

Blu, Manifesto 2015

Blu, Manifesto 2015

Mexican street artist Curiot creates another vibrant mythical beast blending human and animal forms. In this mural Curiot reflects the sinking country surrounded by the people as spectators of it all, busy on their phones doing nothing but sitting and watching the country go down before them. Curiot asks his Mexican people to be proactive.

Curiot, Manifesto 2015

American female street artist Swoon pastes a spiritual wooden mural depicting the Mexican woman and woman nature.

Swoon, Manifesto 2015

Italian female street artist Ericailcane first mural is of an aggressive looking leopard lowers himself to the five bunny rabbits before him, one bunny rabbit bears a black armband with the number 43  and others hold the black flag. Referencing the forty three Ayotzinapa students who disappeared last year.

Ericailcane, Manifesto 2015

Ericailcane, Manifesto 2015

Street artist Ericailcane second mural tested the limitations of free speech. One building owner was made to feel uneasy by the provocative content on his shop wall. Ericailcanes mural depicts a circus monkey holding two pesos as cymbals, wrapped in a band of the Mexican flag. The owner of the building requested that Ericailcane paint over the image of the flag, which the artist agreed to do in black, though the pesos were permitted to remain, debating freedom of speech.

Ericailcane, Manifesto 2015

Ericailcane, Manifesto 2015

The powerful thought provoking murals by the street artists have made sure that Mexico’s issues stay at the front of the national and international conscience and that the mexican people have a voice and that voice is loud!

As part of Manifestomx gallery fifty24MX presents a collective art show. A percentage of the total sales will be donated to the sons and daughters of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa.

Photos courtesy of Fifty24MX

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