Víctor Jara, El Arado

I'd never thought design would take me this far and open the door to these places. And what I mean is that, though I never underestimated the path of my career, I always thought it was something I would work in, while making something "more elevated": Art with a capital A. Yet, a few days ago, I was reflecting on the fact, Graphic Design twenty years ago, meant making posters and being confined into a niche: editorial, branding... Nowadays, being a designer offers so much more than just a niche.

Today, I went along one talented student (out of a group of 20, I can teach design but sadly, frustratingly so - not commitment) to the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico in Chalco, State of Mexico, to deliver 20 posters the students developed for the class in celebration for the 21st Anniversary of the Museum.

Genaro, the museum's director is teaching me so much. Not in the lecture kind of way, neither on the history part which he knows with every beat of his heart. What I'm talking about is that everything he did today, was not about the museum at all. It was about the community and us, he made every part of those who have ever collaborated in his project, feel special, handing out diplomas, naming all of those who were present and feeding us delicious food.

Xico comes from (Xico) belly and (calli) house. The museum is located in what must have been a spectacular view in Hernán Cortes' lifetime (recreation in the image below).

[image source]

While we were waiting for the event to begin, my student came across a small piece of clay. The whole valley is well known for it's archeological vestiges. Onix, jade, fossils, mammoth bones, broken pieces of figurines and pots are common findings in people's backyards and the whole valley itself.

These pieces above are what we collected from the museum's grounds. I'm beyond myself on how it is we can let history just slip off from our hands, kicked under our feet and disregarded. To be somewhat fair with the lack of INAH's activity in the area, you would have to seal off the whole valley to recover everything underneath it.

Mexico is complex in that sense, assuming these little facts of what we're made of, is hard. As we were leaving, we couldn't keep our eyes off the ground, hoping to keep as many bits of history we could, safe from oblivion. Xico is after all, our history within the belly of a house scattered through a valley.