The Polyforum Siqueiros is an urban and artistic icon of Mexico City. It is today, the largest mural in the world. Let’s find out more about its history
via El Reportero‘s wire services
Via Mexico Desconocido
The journey of Mexican muralism was quite long. Much of this was thanks to the long life and work of David Alfaro Siqueiros, who led the movement until the seventies. His last work, which many consider his crowning achievement, is the Polyforum Siqueiros. This complex is a true urban and artistic symbol of Mexico City. Today, it contains a rich history that vehemently expresses the avant-garde intention of an era in the history of art in Mexico.
The background of the Polyforum
The Polyforum Siqueiros project was conceived in the sixties. It all began when businessman Manuel Suárez contacted David Alfaro Siqueiros to ask him to make 18 large mural panels that would be called The Industry and The Countryside. These paintings would be part of the decoration of a convention hall that was being built next to the Casino de la Selva hotel in Morelia, Michoacán.
However, in 1965, the businessman informed the muralist that the location of the work was going to change. This time he asked him to make the largest mural in the world. Siqueiros, surprised, accepted and began to make a work of 2,400 square meters, to which he dedicated himself full time.
The Polyforum Siqueiros
The creation of the Polyforum was a broad and collective work. For this, a large team of workers was required. There were architects, engineers, painters, sculptors and acoustic experts. Many were from different parts of the world. The undertaking was so large that Siqueiros had to buy additional land next to his home and studio in Cuernavaca, Morelos (known today as La Tallera) so that his team could complete the project.
Originally, this facility was to be part of the Urban, Civic, Tourist, Commercial and Cultural Complex Mexico 2000. The project was to be completed for the 1968 Olympic Games; however, due to political and financial complications, the work consumed large amounts of money. Manuel Suárez’s eagerness to carry out the project with his own resources, without financial help from anyone, meant that the work progressed very slowly. Despite the difficulties, construction continued. On June 15, 1971, the hotel was not inaugurated, but the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros was.
The building is located on the southern section of Avenida Insurgentes, between the Nápoles and Del Valle neighborhoods. It is next to the World Trade Center. Its facilities include the mural The March of Humanity, which covers all the walls and the ceiling of the Universal Forum. The building also has the Polyforum Theater, where there are art exhibitions and various events.
The March of Humanity
The main component of the Siqueiros Polyforum is undoubtedly the enormous mural The March of Humanity. This has a mixture of pictorial styles such as realism, expressionism and abstractionism. Due to its size, it had to be divided into four parts, which have different thematic axes that govern them: “The March of Humanity towards the Revolution of the Future”, “Peace, Culture, and Harmony”; “Science and Technology”, and finally “The March of Humanity towards the Bourgeois Democratic Revolution”.
Despite having divided it, Siqueiros did not lose the central theme of his great work, which was the struggle of all the oppressed peoples of the Earth. To the south of the mural, groups of people can be seen moving forward in the hope of a better future; to the east, a woman’s hands can be seen guiding the palms of a man. And that’s not all, as the Mexican painter placed three elements that function as symbols: an eagle, a star and a spaceship. All three represent the strength that exists in the union of man and woman, who, empowered by technology and nature, seek to live in a better world.
