The Tijuana [Mexico] Cultural Center merits a far more titillating
acronym than CECUT! It stands out as one of my two favorite Tijuana
institutions (the other being the Dance Conservatory of Mexico/Conservatorio de
Danza de Mexico-CDM). Built in 1982, CECUT
sits just two kilometers from the U.S./Mexican border. Outside of Mexico City’s
cultural enclave, CECUT is the Culture Ministry’s sole institution committed to
meeting the country’s diverse artistic and cultural needs.
I discovered CECUT while a guest presenter at the CDM’s 2018 National Dance
Month Festival when I attended a mixed media contemporary dance performance in
its theater. When I returned to Tijuana the following year to introduce the
keynote speaker at the April 2019 CDM
festival, my hosts arranged for me to participate in a tour of CECUT’s IMAX
Dome, Museum of the Californias, Performance Hall, El Cubo Exhibition Halls, its
Cineteca, and visit its well-stocked bookstore and indoor and outdoor cafés. At
the end of our tour, CECUT’s Director, Dr. Vianka Robles-Santana took time to
come to the upper level outdoor deck overlooking an esplanade, to introduce
herself and speak about the show on exhibit in the El Cubo galleries.
During a recent return visit in early September, I interviewed Robles-Santana
in her office in the administrative wing of the 3.5-hectare complex. As someone
who prefers small galleries to large museums, I realized that what drew me to
CECUT was its modular character: a large institution that houses a variety of intriguing
galleries, theaters, and indoor and outdoor performance “nested” spaces. In my
mind, CECUT should be the envy of any major city in the United States, if only
because its design alone. Rather than plunking down a discreet parcel of cold,
minimalist, concrete slabs, the architectural team created a structure that “sings,”
flows, and emanates imagination and discovery at every turn. I asked
Robles-Santana to tell me about how CECUT came to life.
Toba Singer: Where did the idea of CECUT originate and what was its mission at the time of its founding?
Vianka Robles-Santana: In 1982, the then President of Mexico José López-Portillo’s wife, Carolyn, undertook a project to promote the arts. They constructed the initial large building to advance that plan. Prior to CECUT, Tijuana had several small theaters, one belonging to the telephone company, Telnor; another that was part of the autonomous university campus; and a third was privately-run; but we had no municipal theater. There were no arts programs in local schools, nor at the university. The mission was to conscientiously raise the arts profile and its Mexican identity here in Tijuana through our presence, as well as collaboration with other institutions, including the schools.
TS: The Center’s design, inside and out, with its imposing dome,
glittering fountain and lush outdoor gardens, promises enchantment, even when
one views it from afar. Who was the architect, and how does its design
correspond to the project’s inspiration and mission?
VR-S: The Mexican architect Pedro Ramírez Vazquez designed the complex, a
critical step in igniting the city’s cultural development. Originally, there
were three buildings, the Dome with the very first Imax Theater and its
annexes. Then in 1996, a small museum was added. After that, each succeeding
director has made significant improvements to the complex. So now we have not
only the Imax Theater but a commercial-style movie theater as well, and a 200 person-capacity screening theater
for film festivals and experimental films. In addition, there is a proscenium
stage theater for dance events and plays. There is the museum where you saw the
California exhibit and the gallery where you saw the show that is currently
mounted, featuring outstanding works by recently deceased Mexican surrealist
Francisco Toledo. Besides those, there is the Federico Campbell Literature Special
Collection, also an aquarium, a bookstore, three cafés, and a restaurant that
is a satellite of the famous Caesar’s, in downtown Tijuana, where the Caesar
Salad was invented and first served!
In terms of the mission, we intend to keep growing, not only physically but in
the quality and quantity of what the Center offers to the community and the
region.
TS: How is CECUT funded and what direction has funding and
financial development taken since 1982?
VR-S: Mexico’s history is deeply rooted in its revolution against Spanish
colonialism and incursions on the part
of the United States, but that is not to say that there haven’t been internal
conflicts resulting from the oppression of indigenous populations in our
country. The federal government finances construction and projects to promote
education and expression around these themes. We are tasked with raising funds via the
special programs and events that we mount, where our box office contributes about
one quarter of the funds. For the majority of programs there is no entrance fee.
TS: In the curating of programs and events, what has been
the impact of “globalization” and specifically, the imposition of maquiladoras [small
non-union factories] by U.S. big business?
VR-S: President Andrés
Manuel López Obrador’s administration has shown great interest in Mexico’s
indigenous culture, as well as that brought here by the giant wave of
immigrants propelled by the current economic crisis and harsh living conditions
in Central America, and those who arrive from cities within Mexico as near to us as
Vera Cruz for the same reasons. It places its confidence in a substantial
effort to integrate these newcomers via the relatable popular and folkloric art.
There are programs, classes and films on these subjects, and courses in the
indigenous languages and culture, that transmit them both accessibly and investigates
them with an eye towards objectivity.
TS: I understand that you have an apprenticeship program for
teens. Could you say something about what they learn in this program?
VR-S: We have a certificated program, seminars, and master lectures. One of the
course offerings teaches teens to become docents. This includes Introduction to
Art, Art Therapy, and Methods to strengthen arts programs in schools. We match the courses with the teens’
professional ambitions. Another is a group of classes aimed at professional
visual and performing artists, and art in literature. We work with
incapacitated children, and non-Spanish-speaking people. We take some of our
programs inside prison walls. There is an “Ancianos” club to attract
participation from seniors. Over the
next several months we intend to design programs targeting indigenous women,
the trans population, and those forced to work the streets. The Pedro Valtierra
photography exhibit in May came as a result of the discovery of old archives.
Thanks to those archives, we’ve also been able to show the way ancient women
lived and worked, and have reconstructed a significant number of younger women
figures from those times. Festivals take up such varied themes as “feminicide,”
the death of the revolutionary figure, Benito Juarez, and the social ostracism which
trans people encounter.
TS: In recent years there have been sharp debates on what is termed “cultural
appropriation.” Has CECUT discussed its attitude and policies with respect to
this issue, or opened discussions on it to the public?
V R-S: Our responsibility is to include the community in such discussions.
There are different shades of opinion, some with profound significance. There
are technical values, as well as conceptional ones to consider. Views on both
aspects tend to reflect the social order under which we live. Francisco
Toledo’s work is very much a product of academia and the circles that form
around it. Other views have their roots
in the community. One should not be divorced from the other.
TS: What is your personal opinion about the acts of censorship now under way in
Northern California? I am referring to San Francisco’s George Washington High
School mural “The Life of George Washington” that the San Francisco School
Board initially voted to destroy (at the cost of upwards of $600,000). They
justify their action to censor based on claims that certain students feel “unsafe” around art that depicts the
oppression of slaves and indigenous peoples. Pressure via international protest
and local organizing, has resulted what has been vaunted as a new “compromise”
plan: not to destroy the mural, but to censor it by covering it up.
V R-S: Culture is constantly changing. You cannot apply society’s current-day standards
and temperament to works created in a previous era. When an artist completes a
mural, it’s for keeps. Our curatorial
role is to save and preserve it. A detail that must not be overlooked is that
technique looks forward in time. Take the example of Mexico. Our art was ransacked
by our conquerors, and stolen from us by them.
There is now a movement here to bring back sacred art that was looted by
the countries that conquered and colonized us. We plan to exhibit it regardless
of whether or not it resonates with current-day views held by this or that current
of thought.
Toba Singer
