0:00:02 > 0:00:04At the beginning of the 15th century,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07this vast pyramid was the largest monument in the world.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13It was the heart of the powerful Mesoamerican city-state of Cholula.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But in the space of a day, in 1510,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23a force of Spanish conquistadors swept through,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26destroying temples and looting treasures.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Thousands were slain in a matter of hours.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37The great regional force of Cholula was toppled.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39And to emphasise their dominance,
0:00:39 > 0:00:44the Spanish built a church on top of the ancient pyramid.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Abrupt and radical change flows through the history of Mexico,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53a nation propelled by three main forces...
0:00:56 > 0:01:00The struggle for power which has defined this country over millennia.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Land and nature, which have been the source of life
0:01:06 > 0:01:10and the cause of conflict and death since the earliest times.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13And faith.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16In Mesoamerican gods and Christian iconography,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20which has been ever-present throughout its existence.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25These are the beats, rhythms and currents of Mexico,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and they run through my blood.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33As an artist born here, and with roots stretching back generations,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37I want to take you on a journey through these three great stories
0:01:37 > 0:01:41which have shaped not just Mexican art, but Mexico itself.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Throughout world history, art has always been used
0:01:56 > 0:01:58as a tool by those in power.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03But for me, Mexico differs in how this incredible relationship
0:02:03 > 0:02:05between art and power
0:02:05 > 0:02:08can be seen so clearly across the millennia.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11In this programme, I'm going to explore
0:02:11 > 0:02:13how the artists of this land
0:02:13 > 0:02:17didn't only project the power of ancient civilisations,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21they also become powerful authors of Mexico's history.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29And they continue to give Mexican identity voice and power.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47In 1910, on the centenary of independence from Spain,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51the foundation stone was laid on what was to be, at 200 feet,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54one of the largest ceremonial arches in the world.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59It was meant to express the unassailable power
0:02:59 > 0:03:03of the most durable dictatorship in Mexico's history.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11Porfirio Diaz had ruled here for over 30 years with an iron fist,
0:03:11 > 0:03:16the strongest government Mexico had experienced since independence.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Yet less than a year after this stone was laid,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22a revolutionary war began
0:03:22 > 0:03:25that would leave the Diaz regime in ruins.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31And when this arch was completed years later,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35it was christened The Monument To The Revolution.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43In the 10-year revolutionary war, over a million people died
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and the old colonial order was completely overturned.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Mexican civil society was shattered
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and traditional power structures eviscerated.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01When the shooting stopped in 1920,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05a fragile, uncertain new Mexico emerged,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10a country that desperately needed a uniting force.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12A new national story.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16The power to achieve this lay with art.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24There was one kind of art
0:04:24 > 0:04:27that dominated in the projection of this message -
0:04:27 > 0:04:29muralism.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Murals were works of art making a public statement.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53They told stories in epic scale,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56containing vast sweeps of Mexico's history,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59from its ancient past to its revolutionary present.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02And they also projected its future.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09But the power of murals wasn't simply in what they depicted,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11it was in their permanence.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18What I love about muralism is that it can't be extracted
0:05:18 > 0:05:21from the place where it was made.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25It can't be removed from the context of its origin.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30The space can change function, depending on who's looking after it,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33but since 1922, this has remained the same.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37And that's so different to works on canvas
0:05:37 > 0:05:41that we see in museums in Europe.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46Mexico's most famous muralists were know as Los Tres Grandes.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49David Alfaro Siqueiros,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Jose Clemente Orozco
0:05:51 > 0:05:53and Diego Rivera.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Together, they made an indelible mark on Mexican history
0:05:58 > 0:06:02by explaining its power struggles to the people
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and providing a vision for everyone to share.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Where the muralists painted
0:06:10 > 0:06:14was just as symbolically important as what they painted.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27Here in my hometown of Mexico City are the Colegio de San Ildefonso.
0:06:27 > 0:06:33Murals implanted a potent message in the keen minds of young people
0:06:33 > 0:06:35who walked these corridors every day.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40For 400 years, this building was a school.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47I feel very connected to it because my father went to school here,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49so he would often bring us when we were children
0:06:49 > 0:06:52and tell us about what it was like
0:06:52 > 0:06:57to go to school in such a historical place,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59surrounded by these murals.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03They would walk past them on the way to classes
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and sometimes, he said, you know, they would stop and look
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and sometimes they would walk past them just like you would any wall
0:07:11 > 0:07:13that you see every day.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18So I find it particularly interesting to think that
0:07:18 > 0:07:21these works of art were actually part of a centre of learning
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and what effect, consciously or subconsciously,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28they had on the students that walked past them every day.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33What my father and countless other people saw painted on these walls
0:07:33 > 0:07:36was a defining event of Mexico's past...
0:07:38 > 0:07:42..when the Spanish colonisers arrived in the 16th century
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and conquered the indigenous people of Mexico.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Millions died, victims of violence and disease.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Rich and complex civilisations, including the Aztecs,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02were decimated by a power intent on plunder...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and fired by religious zeal.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09The indigenous survivors of the conquest
0:08:09 > 0:08:14would be subservient in their own lands for the next 300 years.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22This mural was painted in 1926
0:08:22 > 0:08:24by Jose Clemente Orozco,
0:08:24 > 0:08:29and it contains the story of a woman whose personal experience
0:08:29 > 0:08:32lies at the heart of Mexican identity.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38She's known as La Malinche, and Orozco painted her
0:08:38 > 0:08:42sat next to the leader of the Spanish conquistadors,
0:08:42 > 0:08:43Hernan Cortes.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49She was a slave gifted to Cortes by the Tlaxcalan people,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53who allied themselves with the Spanish against the Aztecs.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58La Malinche was his interpreter
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and, to this day, is reviled by many
0:09:01 > 0:09:06for helping the conquerors defeat her indigenous brethren.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13But the relationship had another profound result.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14They had a son.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18And the mix of Spanish and indigenous blood
0:09:18 > 0:09:22created a new ethnicity - the mestizos.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Professor Renato Mello is a leading expert on Orozco
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and has studied his work for 30 years.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35This mural has always caught my attention
0:09:35 > 0:09:38because in so many of others, the indigenous woman
0:09:38 > 0:09:41is folded down, she's bent down.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44And this one's more complicated than that, isn't it?
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Because she is submissive, passive, dominated,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53but equally, for 1926, it was quite radical
0:09:53 > 0:09:56to give an indigenous woman equal stature like this.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02This is a monumental Indian figure appearing on the public building,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and that was just unthinkable 20 years before.
0:10:05 > 0:10:11I would say that there are no previous indigenous women representations
0:10:11 > 0:10:12that are as strong as this one.
0:10:12 > 0:10:18In this mural, Cortes looks like he's been sculpted out of stone
0:10:18 > 0:10:23and he's quite...stoic and lifeless and cold.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25And she seems to be full of life.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29She's fleshy and warm.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Yes, because it is a system of, er...of contraries,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35of opposing, er...categories.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39So you have the male and the female, but also life and death.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Representing both the colonial condition
0:10:43 > 0:10:50and also, the race that is about to mix with the white race,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52which is the mestizos.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58The mestizos symbolise Mexico's hybrid culture.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The mix of indigenous and European blood,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06common to millions of Mexicans to this day, including me.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11But Orozco's painting is also a reminder
0:11:11 > 0:11:15that the power struggle between the two ethnic traditions
0:11:15 > 0:11:17has not been forgotten.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22This is a monument to the mestizo.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27La Malinche and Hernan Cortes sit surrounded by artefacts
0:11:27 > 0:11:30of pre-Hispanic and Spanish cultures.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34To me, it's an unremarkable work of art
0:11:34 > 0:11:36in the corner of a Mexico City park,
0:11:36 > 0:11:41but what's interesting is that this isn't its original location.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45People there didn't want La Malinche near them
0:11:45 > 0:11:47and insisted she was removed.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52For many Mexicans, she remains an immoral traitor.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57But for one of Mexico's leading writers,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00La Malinche has been maligned for too long.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Laura Esquivel's novel, La Malinche,
0:12:04 > 0:12:09portrays a woman who is not only a translator,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11but a key mediator
0:12:11 > 0:12:13between the indigenous people and the invaders.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31The conflict within the Mexican sense of identity continues today.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35La Malinche might never be forgiven by everyone,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40even as ethnic difference is not only tolerated, but now celebrated.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46For 400 years before the revolution, however,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Mexico's growing mixed-race population
0:13:49 > 0:13:53was depicted in divisive and demeaning ways.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Artworks known as Casta paintings
0:13:57 > 0:14:01reflected official government attempts in the 18th century
0:14:01 > 0:14:05to classify people in descending social order.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09These popular artworks, often in a set of 12,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12reinforced ideas of racial superiority
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and a Spanish obsession with purity of blood.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22There were the mestizo, of Spanish and indigenous mix.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Mulattos were of Spanish and African descent.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And at the bottom were ahi te estas,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34meaning, "stay where you are",
0:14:34 > 0:14:40a person born with a mix of Spanish, African and indigenous blood.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46But in post-revolutionary Mexico,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48everyone was Mexican and equal
0:14:48 > 0:14:51in the country's past and present.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56This message of inclusion and rebirth
0:14:56 > 0:14:58was proclaimed loud and clear
0:14:58 > 0:15:03in a vast mural covering the walls of the presidential palace -
0:15:03 > 0:15:04the heart of Mexican power.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Thousands of years of history cover 275 square metres.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Events and characters from ancient and modern Mexico
0:15:17 > 0:15:22appear in what is nothing less than a new and radical chronicle
0:15:22 > 0:15:25of Mexican history in its entirety.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29The artist was Diego Rivera,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32one of the giants of 20th-century art.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37His epic of the Mexican people
0:15:37 > 0:15:40is one of the greatest murals anywhere in the world.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The actual experience is quite overwhelming.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- And it really encompasses you as you're walking through it.- Yes.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52VOICEOVER: Art historian Claudia Molina has researched
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Diego Rivera's murals extensively.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Diego Rivera was thinking about the eye of the spectator.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04Because the normal eye doesn't go from right to left
0:16:04 > 0:16:07or left to right, it goes like a circle.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Because we are on the stairs
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and all muralism puts the spectator in an active role.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Rivera created his mural as a triptych,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21representing Mexican history in three chapters.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27On the right, there's the Aztec world, reborn and proud,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30rather than crushed and defeated following the Spanish conquest.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36The middle wall is called From The Conquest To 1930,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40and draws in the subjugation of the indigenous people,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43the War of Independence and the revolution.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49The left-hand wall is called Mexico Today And Tomorrow,
0:16:49 > 0:16:50and features class war,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54attacking the exploitative nature of capitalism and the church,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and exalting the revolutionary message of Karl Marx.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Rivera was a committed communist and staunchly anti-religion.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07And it was his deeply-held political views
0:17:07 > 0:17:09that made him the perfect artist
0:17:09 > 0:17:13to express the official line in post-revolutionary Mexico.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19This mural reflected Rivera's personal beliefs,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21but it was commissioned by the people in power,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23the new left-wing government,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26determined to control the nation's story.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32The government and all the elite
0:17:32 > 0:17:37was very much interested in, um...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40use art as a tool of power.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Rivera chose a quote from the Communist Manifesto,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50"We don't need to reshape our society, we need to create one".
0:17:50 > 0:17:55So, it's very much in tune for the Mexican government at the time.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01The commission was meant to, of course, show the Mexican history,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04but, of course, it was meant to be like
0:18:04 > 0:18:09the beginning of a new national identity, born from the revolution.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13What's most interesting is that if you interview people nowadays,
0:18:13 > 0:18:18they believe this mural is true, it's their history.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20So that's what's amazing
0:18:20 > 0:18:24because actually, Diego Rivera is not only an artist and a painter,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26of course, he's an intellectual
0:18:26 > 0:18:31that became the best tool of the Mexican government
0:18:31 > 0:18:36to imagine and construct this imagery of Mexico and its history.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40That is the power of Rivera's art.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45His vision of Mexico, romanticised and ideological,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47is now part of our official history.
0:18:50 > 0:18:5280 years after its completion,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55the mural still carries the weight of authority.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Whenever Mexico welcomes foreign leaders,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03the President greets them in front of this panorama.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08It's an origin myth and propaganda rolled into one.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13The government did a very good job photographing all these murals
0:19:13 > 0:19:15and publishing in magazines, newspapers
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and, of course, eventually, textbooks.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22So that's why all of these became
0:19:22 > 0:19:26the official images of national history.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30- Not least because the population was illiterate.- Exactly.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32- So they needed images.- Exactly.
0:19:32 > 0:19:3780% of Mexicans were illiterate at the time, by 1921.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42So he knew images were the tool to accomplish all these projects.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48The grand plan of using art to educate
0:19:48 > 0:19:51was the brainchild of Jose Vasconcelos.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55He was the minister of education
0:19:55 > 0:19:59who believed that the revolution had given power back to the people.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Giving the people knowledge would help reform the country
0:20:04 > 0:20:06and secure revolutionary ideals.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11And as well as understanding
0:20:11 > 0:20:15the revolution's place in Mexico's great story,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19he also wanted Mexicans to understand each other.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29At the Ministry of Education, Vasconcelos commissioned Rivera
0:20:29 > 0:20:32to show the new social and political realities
0:20:32 > 0:20:34of post-revolutionary Mexico.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Working 18 hours a day for more than four years,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Rivera and his team of assistants
0:20:47 > 0:20:53created an extraordinary tableau called The Very Life Of The People,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56over 235 fresco panels.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Rivera painted working people tilling their crops...
0:21:05 > 0:21:07..breaking bread together,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and, if called upon, preparing for armed struggle.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Rivera included his like-minded friends,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19his soon-to-be-wife, Frida Kahlo
0:21:19 > 0:21:24and fellow muralist, David Siqueiros.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Those who didn't understand that power
0:21:27 > 0:21:30was now in the hands of farmers and factory workers
0:21:30 > 0:21:34were also depicted, drunk and decadent.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Having worked in Europe and the United States during the 1920s,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52at the turn of the '30s,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57Diego Rivera was a superstar with a global reputation.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03And despite being an ardent communist, he became hugely popular
0:22:03 > 0:22:06among the rich industrialists of the United States,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08where he and Frida Kahlo
0:22:08 > 0:22:12had quickly become the darlings of the cultural elite.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20In the US, Rivera's power was in his commercial value.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25A mural for the Stock Exchange Luncheon Club in San Francisco
0:22:25 > 0:22:29was followed by an even more remarkable commission -
0:22:29 > 0:22:33one that ended with a very personal power struggle.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38In exchange for 21,000 dollars,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Rivera was asked to create a mural
0:22:41 > 0:22:45about mankind looking to a better future.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50His patron was Nelson Rockefeller, who wanted a Rivera fresco
0:22:50 > 0:22:52to adorn the Rockefeller Centre in New York.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The scion of one of the United States' richest
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and most powerful families approved Rivera's sketches,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04which showed workers, soldiers and farmers
0:23:04 > 0:23:08united in optimism about future technology
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and its benefit for humanity.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16But Rivera was taunted by leftist groups,
0:23:16 > 0:23:21who accused him of putting his principles aside for money.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25And so he changed the design
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and included a portrait of Vladimir Lenin.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Rockefeller was furious.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35And when Rivera refused to change it,
0:23:35 > 0:23:39he ordered the fresco to be chiselled off the wall.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42But Rivera wasn't prepared to surrender his art.
0:23:44 > 0:23:50So he decided to come back to Mexico and recreate the same mural here.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53And I'm so happy he did because it's absolutely stunning.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Man, Controller Of The Universe,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02is an almost identical version of the Rockefeller mural.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04On either side of the central figure
0:24:04 > 0:24:07are the dominating political ideologies of the time.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Above capitalism, Rivera painted what he believed
0:24:13 > 0:24:15was its greatest failure -
0:24:15 > 0:24:17the First World War
0:24:17 > 0:24:21and the brutalities of machine guns and poison gas.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26On the right, Lenin supports the working class
0:24:26 > 0:24:29in their revolutionary struggle for power and justice.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Every single inch of it is covered with the politics of the time.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41It's so rich in symbolism.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47At the centre of the mural, a worker is mastering technology,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51sitting at the controls of the mechanical and natural worlds.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Depending on his decisions,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57the world could be a socialist utopia,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01or it could be dominated by the debauched, rich bourgeoisie
0:25:01 > 0:25:05drinking martinis while millions perish.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09For the Rockefellers, it was a personal and political attack.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14For Rivera, it was a belated demonstration of his own power.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I think he had a crisis of conscience of being commissioned
0:25:19 > 0:25:20by one of the...
0:25:20 > 0:25:24A family that was the epitome of the capitalist system
0:25:24 > 0:25:26that he was so against.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30They wanted his art, but they didn't want his politics.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Whilst Rivera was obsessed with the idealistic visions
0:25:35 > 0:25:37of a communist future,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41other muralists were beginning to reflect the realities
0:25:41 > 0:25:44of a fast-changing and threatening world,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49where power was emphatically not in the hands of ordinary people.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55The Hospicio Cabanas in Guadalajara
0:25:55 > 0:25:59is one of the most incredible interiors in world art.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04It's been called the Sistine Chapel of the Americas.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12Here, Jose Clemente Orozco painted a story of Mexico
0:26:12 > 0:26:15that showed he was deeply worried about the future.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22As the 1930s went on, fascism spread in Europe,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27and Stalin's brand of communism saw millions exiled or executed.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Orozco feared that reactionary forces
0:26:30 > 0:26:35could threaten Mexico's revolution and turn back the clock.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42I think the energy and drama in his brushstrokes
0:26:42 > 0:26:45make his provocative message an urgent one.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52All these murals are working towards Orozco's climactic vision.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55what many consider his masterpiece.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59In the dome of this chapel is Orozco's Man Of Fire.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05This figure, engulfed in vibrant red and yellow flames,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07is an allegory of the destruction
0:27:07 > 0:27:10that technology and progress can bring.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Man is trying to defy external forces as he ascends through fire.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22He wants to fly, but, like Icarus of Greek myth, he will fall.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Orozco completed the work in 1939
0:27:27 > 0:27:32as right-wing nationalists declared victory in the Spanish Civil War.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38This is a statement about individual freedom,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43and...that was pretty much at stake...
0:27:45 > 0:27:47..at the time.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Many people thought, Orozco amongst them,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53that what had happened in Spain,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55a reactionary uprising,
0:27:55 > 0:28:01a total destruction of the civil institution,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04that could happen in Mexico, as well.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09Orozco realises that some trends in anarchism,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12socialism, fascism,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15but also in the democratic discourse, are very dangerous.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Muralism had begun by serving power
0:28:18 > 0:28:22and transmitting the values of the revolutionary state.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Now it was confronting power,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31warning of the looming threats to the ideals of the revolution.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36And the ultimate expression of this fell to the youngest
0:28:36 > 0:28:40and most uncompromisingly radical of the big three,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43David Alfaro Siqueiros.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47For Siqueiros, art and revolution were inseparable.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52At 18, he quit art college to fight on the front lines
0:28:52 > 0:28:54of the Mexican Revolution.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00And in 1936, he fought in the Spanish Civil War,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04witnessing the triumph of the Nazi-backed fascists.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07When he returned to Mexico,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10he painted perhaps the most caustic warning
0:29:10 > 0:29:12against not just fascism,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14but the acquiescence of democracy
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and capitalism in its rise.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Wow!
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Dominating a stairwell in the headquarters
0:29:22 > 0:29:25of the Electrical Workers' Union in Mexico City,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27is A Portrait Of The Bourgeoisie.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34The mural is a triptych whose imagery makes no attempt
0:29:34 > 0:29:36to hide the anger and resentment
0:29:36 > 0:29:39of a man who had witnessed at first hand
0:29:39 > 0:29:41fascism defeat socialism in Spain.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46It really envelops you in a very...
0:29:46 > 0:29:49SHE EXHALES ..claustrophobic sense.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53You almost have to take a few steps back.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58The mural is a warning to the Mexican proletariat
0:29:58 > 0:30:01of the implacable array of forces that confront it.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08For Siqueiros, the Mexican Revolution had stalled,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11co-opted by the bourgeois middle class.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15He shows the ordinary man crushed by stronger powers.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21A monstrous machine turns workers' blood into gold.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26Figures in gas masks represent Britain,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28France and the US on the left,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32and Germany, Italy and Japan on the right.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Siqueiros seems to make them equally culpable
0:30:35 > 0:30:38for the money machine's grim business model.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Because he was, really, a revolutionary,
0:30:43 > 0:30:49and the themes that he's actually painting about were global themes
0:30:49 > 0:30:52of America and Europe, in his words,
0:30:52 > 0:30:54colluding with fascism,
0:30:54 > 0:30:59and the ideals that he stood for falling.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04I think this sadness or disappointment came across as anger.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08And he took every opportunity to express that.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11And I think this is a great example of it.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13The values of liberte,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16egalite and fraternite burning.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18There's nothing ambiguous about that.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24The only message of hope is a revolutionary figure
0:31:24 > 0:31:28bravely confronting the terrifying scene.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33But he's alone, symbolising the isolation
0:31:33 > 0:31:35of the Mexican proletariat.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41"Don't look to others to help," Siqueiros is saying to the workers.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46"You are the only reliable weapons in the revolutionary struggle."
0:31:48 > 0:31:50And he carried this message of solidarity
0:31:50 > 0:31:53into the technique of the painting,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55working with a team of artists
0:31:55 > 0:31:58using spray cans to remove the hand of the individual.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05What remains might bear only Siqueiros' name,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09but it's a call for unity and collective will.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16It's amazing to me that it has remained so intact.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19It's absolutely flawless.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24And also, thematically, it could have been made yesterday.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Ever the activist,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Siqueiros didn't attend the opening of the mural in 1940.
0:32:37 > 0:32:38He was in hiding,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41accused of an assassination attempt
0:32:41 > 0:32:45on Soviet dissident Leon Trotsky in Mexico City.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58By the 1950s, the fervent ideals of the revolution had dissipated.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Mexico's leaders wanted to position the country
0:33:06 > 0:33:08as a modern, liberal democracy.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14HUBBUB
0:33:23 > 0:33:25This colossal monolith represented
0:33:25 > 0:33:29what the powerhouse behind this modernisation was to be.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43It's the library of Mexico's national university.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47The building opened in 1952,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50part of a huge investment in a new campus.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55The idea was that through universal higher education,
0:33:55 > 0:34:00the latent power of Mexico's population could be unleashed,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02and a prosperous future secured.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07The library was designed by Juan O'Gorman,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10born in Mexico to an Irish father.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Its monumental modernist form,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17mirrored across the campus architecture,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20expressed the technological sophistication
0:34:20 > 0:34:23that would be key to Mexico's development.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29But the true symbolic power of the library
0:34:29 > 0:34:32is not in the ways it points to the future,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35but in the ways it draws from the past.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41The building is windowless, covered in mosaic
0:34:41 > 0:34:45with murals rich in Mesoamerican imagery and mythology.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52It feels like a glorification of learning and history.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Like the Spanish codices,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57the books that chronicle pre-Hispanic life and culture
0:34:57 > 0:35:03have been projected on every side of this building's massive facades.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Surrounding the structures are open plazas
0:35:08 > 0:35:11designed for everyone to congregate and socialise,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15regardless of whether they are students or not.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I'm buying raspado, which is basically ice
0:35:36 > 0:35:38grated off a big ice block
0:35:38 > 0:35:42and then you get all sorts of syrups that you can put on it.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:35:48 > 0:35:51So I'm having a tamarind and lemon one.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Avoiding the chilli.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Mm! Good. Refreshing.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11But to truly understand the thinking behind the spectacular space
0:36:11 > 0:36:15and its monumental architecture, you need to go back in time.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19This entire campus has been deliberately designed
0:36:19 > 0:36:22to project the power of education,
0:36:22 > 0:36:24by mimicking the city planning
0:36:24 > 0:36:27of the most powerful pre-Hispanic civilisations.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33The pyramids and temples of Teotihuacan
0:36:33 > 0:36:36more than 2,000 years old,
0:36:36 > 0:36:41were designed to inspire awe and wonder among the people.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43emphasising the power of the elites
0:36:43 > 0:36:46and their evident connection to the gods.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51But it's the great city of Cholula
0:36:51 > 0:36:55that really underlines how ancient architects and artists
0:36:55 > 0:36:58were able to project power in spectacular fashion.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04What looks like a hill is, in fact, an enormous pyramid
0:37:04 > 0:37:07that covers an area of more than 45 acres,
0:37:07 > 0:37:12making it, by mass, not only the largest pyramid in the world,
0:37:12 > 0:37:17but also the largest monument ever constructed anywhere,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19by any civilisation.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Gabriela Urunuela is Professor of Anthropology
0:37:24 > 0:37:29and an expert on the great Mesoamerican site of Cholula.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32The designs that they were using
0:37:32 > 0:37:35was made to communicate something
0:37:35 > 0:37:37to the population, to the viewer.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43But it was a tool for the government to, er...express ideas.
0:37:43 > 0:37:50It is art, but it had a function beyond being just ornamental.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53And what does it say about the civilisation that built it?
0:37:53 > 0:37:57You cannot build a monument this big
0:37:57 > 0:38:03if you do not have, um...hierarchical society
0:38:03 > 0:38:08which designs the monument to manifest its power
0:38:08 > 0:38:11- in the building of something this big.- Exactly.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20Over millennia, successive pre-Hispanic civilisations
0:38:20 > 0:38:24made the Great Pyramid of Cholula even larger
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and ever more imposing.
0:38:27 > 0:38:28As the pyramid grew,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31so did the influence of the city and its elites.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Cholula became the dominant regional powerhouse.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43For 500 years, rulers of other city-states came here on pilgrimage.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49It's said that even Aztec princes were anointed by Cholula's priests.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56Its dominance as a centre of power made it a clear target
0:38:56 > 0:38:59for the invading Spanish in the 16th century.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04The rapid conquest of Cholula
0:39:04 > 0:39:08installed the Europeans as the new holders of power.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11For 300 years, they dominated,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14suppressing indigenous culture.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18But following the revolution that began in 1910,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22the power and significance of Mexico's pre-Hispanic culture
0:39:22 > 0:39:24was increasingly recognised.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34The Anthropology Museum in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park
0:39:34 > 0:39:38houses the world's largest collection of ancient Mexican art.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Before I became an artist, I studied social anthropology
0:39:45 > 0:39:48and I've always found this place inspirational.
0:39:57 > 0:39:58But it's more than a museum.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01It was created with an explicit political purpose -
0:40:03 > 0:40:07to draw together the different strands of Mexican identity
0:40:07 > 0:40:09and apportion them with equal power.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Anthropologist Sandra Rozental
0:40:15 > 0:40:20has studied how the government used pre-Hispanic artistic heritage
0:40:20 > 0:40:24for social and political purposes over the decades.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Both the President of Mexico at the time, Lopez Mateos,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30and the architect of the museum,
0:40:30 > 0:40:34wanted to create a building that people would just stumble upon
0:40:34 > 0:40:37when they were going to the park,
0:40:37 > 0:40:41when they were participating in other tourist activities around Mexico City.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46And so Chapultepec was really the right place for this...for this new museum.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49So the idea in the 1960s was to create a space
0:40:49 > 0:40:54that would allow for a collection that would show all of Mexico.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Represent all of this diversity that created contemporary Mexico.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03So it's a real hybrid. There's a great modernist influence,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06but there's also pre-Hispanic influence.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10The museum was very carefully planned and designed
0:41:10 > 0:41:14to portray two parallel images of Mexico.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18On the one hand, Mexico as a modern, state-of-the-art country,
0:41:18 > 0:41:23and at the same time, the idea was that the museum would portray
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Mexico's authenticity, the exotic nature
0:41:27 > 0:41:31of its very own indigenous civilisation.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35The architect, Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, really wanted that contrast.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38This very sleek, modernist style
0:41:38 > 0:41:42combined with something very authentic, very Mexican.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45It's very much a centralising project.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50The idea was that the courtyard would sort of bring together
0:41:50 > 0:41:52all of this diversity into a unity
0:41:52 > 0:41:54that was structured around this centre.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58This is very much a ritual space.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00I mean, we think about it as a museum,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03but it's also a ritual space, where, I think,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07all Mexicans come at some point in their life, on a sort of pilgrimage
0:42:07 > 0:42:12to see and experience what being Mexican entails.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19One of Mexico's greatest artists had a profound understanding
0:42:19 > 0:42:23of the power of indigenous culture in Mexican nationalism.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28Frida Kahlo embodied post-revolutionary Mexico.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Her father was of German descent
0:42:30 > 0:42:32and her mother a mestiza.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37She wore indigenous Tehuana dresses from the Zapotec region
0:42:37 > 0:42:41inspired by the ideal of freedom and strength
0:42:41 > 0:42:43that the wearers of the dresses represented.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47And she revered Aztec traditions.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54My Nurse And I is a reinterpretation of the Catholic pieta.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59But instead of the Madonna and child, she portrayed herself
0:42:59 > 0:43:01as a baby being breast-fed by an indigenous nurse
0:43:01 > 0:43:05whose face is covered by a pre-Hispanic mask.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11She's nurtured by Mexican earth.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Her origins rooted in Mexico's soil.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22Another painting, The Love Embrace Of The Universe,
0:43:22 > 0:43:27shows an earth goddess enveloping her and her husband, Diego Rivera.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Asleep on the left is her hairless pet dog,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35of a breed venerated by the Aztecs.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Frida's heart is bleeding,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44symbolising the ritual sacrifices of the Aztecs
0:43:44 > 0:43:47and Catholic iconography.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55Casa Azul is where Frida was born, grew up, and died.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04It's an intimate space that I'm often drawn back to.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18I remember coming here as a child...
0:44:20 > 0:44:24..and being fascinated by this person,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27this personality, this figure.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31She was almost mythological, and then you came here
0:44:31 > 0:44:36and you actually saw her brushes
0:44:36 > 0:44:38and her wheelchair.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41At the age of 18, a terrible accident
0:44:41 > 0:44:45left her to deal with chronic pain for the rest of her life,
0:44:45 > 0:44:48and later led to several miscarriages.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54I remember being...very moved and quite saddened
0:44:54 > 0:44:56when I saw this...
0:44:57 > 0:45:00..easel made for her to fit her wheelchair
0:45:00 > 0:45:03so that she could really go up to it.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And I remember seeing her plaster casts.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12This tiny waist, and it was usually covered in painting.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17She spent most of her adult life in casts
0:45:17 > 0:45:19and having constant operations.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24This place doesn't feel like a monument,
0:45:24 > 0:45:25it doesn't feel like a museum.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30It feels so full of her.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Full of her art, full of her life.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39It feels like everything is as it was.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42And that makes it a very moving experience, actually.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47What gave Frida's work its ultimate power
0:45:47 > 0:45:50was the depth of her convictions.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52She made the personal political,
0:45:52 > 0:45:57expressing a deeply-felt connection to Mexico through her own struggles.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I think her art is as emotionally charged today
0:46:00 > 0:46:03as it was when she created it,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06a time when she was just as important as the muralists
0:46:06 > 0:46:09in promoting a nationalism rooted in ancient history.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15Hilda Trujillo is the director of the Frida Kahlo Museum.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08In lending her voice to Mexico's struggle for an independent cultural identity,
0:47:08 > 0:47:14Frida expressed her commitment to the country and its people.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17But she never followed consensus.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07This is a power struggle that's as relevant today
0:48:07 > 0:48:11as it was when Frida was producing her work.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13But while that fight continues,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16arguably, greater strides have been made
0:48:16 > 0:48:20to ensure the indigenous voice that Frida championed is heard.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Nowhere is that voice more obvious
0:48:28 > 0:48:32than in the state of Oaxaca in the south of Mexico.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Many of its inhabitants are descended from the Zapotec civilisation.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43It dates back at least 2,500 years.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Buenos dias, Senora.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54The market here in Tlacolula is one of the oldest in Mexico.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59So these are made from carrizo, which is a type of cane.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03And these baskets are to do your fruit shopping with,
0:49:03 > 0:49:05but they're also part of a really important ceremony in Oaxaca,
0:49:05 > 0:49:09which is where they share sweets and fruit.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13So the woman who's in charge of it that year - every year it's someone else -
0:49:13 > 0:49:16puts it on their head and shares fruits and sweets.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19So you'd put this on top of your head.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:49:22 > 0:49:24So you'd put it on your head, like that.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26SHE CHUCKLES
0:49:28 > 0:49:33Oaxaca has the largest indigenous population among Mexico's 31 states.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38THEY LAUGH
0:49:38 > 0:49:41The power of the indigenous communities,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43their political representation
0:49:43 > 0:49:46and right to self-determination
0:49:46 > 0:49:49is now guaranteed by the Mexican state.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54Remarkable, when you think that there are 69 different indigenous languages
0:49:54 > 0:49:58and myriad cultures recognised within Mexico.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04What I love about these patterns is that they...they're inspired by
0:50:04 > 0:50:06the pyramids of Mitla.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10So you'll find that the most authentic ones are these geometric shapes,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14these diamonds, and these kind of tracings.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17So it's pure wool, it hasn't been mixed with anything.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:50:22 > 0:50:24I just said, "Where do you get the wool from?"
0:50:24 > 0:50:26And she said, "From the sheep."
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Gracias.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35I'm wearing an embroidered Tehuana top typical of this area,
0:50:35 > 0:50:36called a huipil.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39And I styled my hair according to tradition
0:50:39 > 0:50:43for a special meeting I'm really looking forward to.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48The state of Oaxaca is home to Mexico's greatest living artist,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Francisco Toledo.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54His outstanding career spans five decades.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00Toledo's inspiration comes in part from Zapotec mythology,
0:51:00 > 0:51:04and his art contains scenes of identity,
0:51:04 > 0:51:06celebrating the culture of his people
0:51:06 > 0:51:09and the connection to ancient ancestors.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14Oaxaca itself, and his roots here, are very important to him.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09But Toledo is an activist, as well as an artist.
0:52:09 > 0:52:10For 30 years, he's used his art
0:52:10 > 0:52:14to finance campaigns for social justice,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16challenging those in power.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19While his own work is not overtly political,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23he acknowledges a relationship between art and power.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Proximity to power helped the muralists convey the message
0:53:01 > 0:53:05of what it meant to be Mexican after the revolution.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09And today, proximity to an external power
0:53:09 > 0:53:13means there's nowhere more crucial to protect this Mexican identity
0:53:13 > 0:53:15than when you're at its borders.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Tijuana, right against the border with the United States,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24is one of Mexico's most vibrant artistic hubs.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31Art produced by a variety of individuals and collectives
0:53:31 > 0:53:35is inspired by the experience of ordinary people
0:53:35 > 0:53:38and by everyday politics.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Their artistic statements are commonly known as border art.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51Ana Teresa Fernandez's Erasing The Border
0:53:51 > 0:53:54is a defiant act of protest against the boundary
0:53:54 > 0:53:57separating Mexico from the United States.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Her brush eliminates the border,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06perhaps asking questions about the boundaries of national identity.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12I think this gets to the heart of how many Mexicans feel
0:54:12 > 0:54:14about a border created in 1848
0:54:14 > 0:54:16which saw Mexican territory,
0:54:16 > 0:54:20including California, New Mexico and Texas,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22become part of the United States.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31And it also speaks to the issue of migration.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35Tijuana is the world's busiest land border crossing,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39with 50 million making the journey each year.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42They include commuters living in Tijuana
0:54:42 > 0:54:45crossing daily to work in San Diego.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Others are undocumented migrants in search of a new life.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55An unfortunate few, the victims of human trafficking.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Hazardous journeys and real discoveries by the authorities
0:55:01 > 0:55:05have inspired the work of Julio Caesar Morales'
0:55:05 > 0:55:08Undocumented Interventions.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14I've come to meet an artist who's an integral part
0:55:14 > 0:55:16of Tijuana's creative community.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Marco Ramirez, known as Erre.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25He feels strongly that artists have a responsibility
0:55:25 > 0:55:29to respond to power and injustice, particularly now,
0:55:29 > 0:55:33following President Trump's controversial statements
0:55:33 > 0:55:35about Mexicans and the border.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42Me and the people that think like me and worry about the situation right now,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45they need to, like, open their hearts and open their minds
0:55:45 > 0:55:50and open their mouth and say the things that need to be said.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Otherwise, we're going to lose things that
0:55:53 > 0:55:57took us 100-150 years to gain.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Respect to our rights and equality,
0:56:00 > 0:56:03no race is better than the other, stuff like that
0:56:03 > 0:56:06that we thought that we had it already understood,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08you know, like, we had it controlled.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11And now it's going in the wrong direction.
0:56:11 > 0:56:12So as a border artist,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16how do you relate to this binational existence?
0:56:16 > 0:56:19How does it affect your work?
0:56:19 > 0:56:23Well, it affects it and provokes it, you know?
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Like, I don't know another way of being.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28So it's very hard for me to explain it.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31You know, I've been here forever.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35I do not assume myself just as a border artist,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38but I'm not going to start denying something that is embedded in who I am.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42The current political situation has propelled Erre
0:56:42 > 0:56:46to return to an idea about Mexico's northern neighbour.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50I'm, er...trying to age this...
0:56:51 > 0:56:54..piece of, er...fence
0:56:54 > 0:56:56so it is not that obvious
0:56:56 > 0:56:58that it's resembling the American flag.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Stripes and Fence Forever - this the original work -
0:57:04 > 0:57:09is a comment about the lure of the United States losing its lustre.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13That crossing the border doesn't mean dreams come true.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18This flag represents the 50 states and the 30 old colonies.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21- And then it's supposed to be a melting pot.- Mm-hm.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24- Seems to me that the pot is melting. - Yeah. Definitely.
0:57:24 > 0:57:25Is what it looks like to me.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Power and the proximity to power
0:57:29 > 0:57:34fires a creativity of artists working in Tijuana.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39In the 21st century, power and art are as inseparable as ever.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46Across a millennia, struggles for power have forged this country.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50And artists have been at the epicentre of each one.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58From projections of authority that held ancient civilisations together
0:57:58 > 0:58:01to creating a new national story
0:58:01 > 0:58:04and reinforcing Mexican identity,
0:58:04 > 0:58:09artists have themselves been the power brokers in Mexico's story.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17In the next episode, I explore how faith across the millennia
0:58:17 > 0:58:19has been dominated by art
0:58:19 > 0:58:24that underpinned and changed the very nature of belief.