Neil Young, Cortez The Killer

A month ago, by chance, I discovered the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico, and was shocked that Hernán Cortes' Hacienda, our national heritage seemed so feeble and unattended by the State of Mexico (or any of our past and present governments for that matter). During the guided tour, I learned there had been a 21 million pesos investment (actually 18, nobody knows where 3 million went) to the restoration of the original building which meant scraping off what was not original and reconstruction the building through the INAH's supervision.

Fortuitous to say the least, I decided, I would do all I could to help the small community museum that resides within the compound. The people volunteering for the museum are warriors in all the sense of the word. From arbitrary decommissions that sends waves of cohesion across the community schools and other neighboring institutions they work with, to withstanding the economical scarcity of their labour through the art workshops they impart every summer.

Director, coordinator and volunteer/designer

As I looked across the table, I felt the rarity of finding committed people, like heroes, almost martyrs from another era. Of love towards the work they do, scraping the good of whatever falls upon them, pulsating patiently, slowly, eternally.

Art work by summer workshop student Jacobo

The work they do is inspiring, it's actually a life's unrecognized work. And by unrecognized I do not mean fame, I mean that even after all these 21 years of labor, they might get kicked out of the space after the restoration ends. 

Picture by UAM student: Jorge Clark

Why am I drawn to these projects? There seems to be a fascination about the people around them. Did I mention Genaro, the director of the museum wears flip flops with socks that have happy faces on the fingertips? Or that the archeologist on the site (new vestiges were found and the restoration was halted) was really young and completely fulfilled about his work there? When asked about what did the museum meant to one of the volunteers, she choked up and said, "Xico is my heart, Xico is everything."