Overview
| La Trobe Art Institute, 121 View Street, Bendigo VIC 3550 | |
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| $15 General. $10 Member and Concession |
Mexico City, built on the ancient Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, was a bustling cosmopolitan centre of art, politics, and social reform when Frida Kahlo was a teenager in the 1920s. In the prior century, the city had been remodelled in the style of the grand European capitals like Paris. In the wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the old palaces were redecorated with modern murals promoting socialist ideals, the large boulevards thrummed with trams and cars, and the streets were sites of fervent political protest and debate. Over the century since, Mexico City has steadily transformed into a sprawling megacity of almost 25 million people.
In this presentation, architect and urban designer Paty Galán will explore Mexico City’s extraordinary history and highlight key sites of significance in Frida Kahlo’s life, such as the historic Coyoacán district where she lived most of her life, the Nacional Preparatoria where she attended high school, the Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo by Juan O’Gorman, and the Anahuacalli Museum that Kahlo helped her husband Diego Rivera to establish.
Paty will share insights into how and why Mexico City expanded so rapidly throughout the twentieth century and the challenges this brought. She will explore the vital role of design in Mexico City, today a global centre of design innovation, and share some of the strategies that contemporary planners and designers are implementing to create a more environmentally sustainable and liveable city for the future.
Guest speakers
Paty Galán
Paty trained as an architect in Mexico City and works as an urban designer in Melbourne. Paty’s background in design, and passion for children's education, also led her to co-found Small Fires, a social enterprise which creates multilingual and multicultural learning experiences.