part 1 · 2024 · casas ara, cerro del marqués

huellas de historia
y comunidad

A residency in the colonia of Casas ARA, on the Cerro del Marqués, with a group of young people from the neighbourhood and the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico.

read on

scroll

the place where we live

“The place where we live is Casas ARA, on the Cerro del Marqués, in Valle de Chalco, Estado de México, east of the city. Living up here on the Cerro is like living in a mini-city and in the countryside at once. There is a part where people farm and keep livestock, and there are also commercial areas, leisure centres, school zones; there is transport, but it is limited.

What we like most is that you can study here, there are green areas, shopping centres, sometimes good neighbours, the landscape because you can see the valley and the volcanoes; we like the parks, the courts, all the shops, and there are many dogs in the streets and people look after them.

What we like least is the lack of water: sometimes they cut it off for days, and when it comes back it is dirty and does not last. We do not like the pollution and the rubbish, the muggings and the insecurity, the very limited transport, the lack of internet, the drug dealing and the addiction, the abandoned and mistreated animals. We do not like police corruption.

More resources should go into the schools, the hospitals and healthcare, because it is very hard to find medical staff; the streets of the neighbourhood should be cleaned more. We would change the housing too.”

In this workshop we located the neighbourhood by making a map of the territory, we learned to take photographs with film cameras, we also learned to do interviews and record them. It showed us what the colonia lacks, how scarce the resources are, but also how open and kind people are.

the participants from casas ara

part 1 · 2024

The group started from the ground: a sensitive map of the neighbourhood, drawn together, where you place what you know before what appears on official plans. Then the film cameras arrived, and with them a useful constraint — thirty-six frames, not one more. Finally the microphones, to go and ask questions of neighbours, shopkeepers, passers-by.

What came back from the rolls is not a report on poverty. It is an inventory of attachments: an empty water tower that remains majestic, trainers strung across the cables like musical notes, a woman running her food stall, a moto-taxi waiting for passengers, dance dresses hung out in the street with the sun for a spotlight.

The public showing happened in the territory itself: prints pasted on the walls of the neighbourhood and inside the school, with QR codes to listen to the interviews. The exhibition stayed where it had been made, in full view of the people it speaks about.

the photographs and their texts

The titles and texts are those written by the participants. The Spanish version is the original.

part 1 · 2024 · casas ara, cerro del marqués

gran vacío

great emptiness

From this angle the tank lets you see how majestic it is; but it is empty and of no use to the community.

01 / 15

el lenguaje del sol
the language of the sun

It fills you with life and warmth: as if each petal caught the sun’s rays and wrapped them up. I described it for the nature you sense in it, because every detail composes and creates something unique.

la danza del aire
the dance of the air

The cables stand for strings taking advantage of the melody of the sky and the wind. The trainers are the notes. I chose this photo for how beautiful it looks and for what it reflects.

03 / 15

juventud en el oriente de los volcanes
youth east of the volcanoes

Young people are a sample of the great cultural diversity that exists in Valle de Chalco, the very thing that binds them together and makes them cheerful, strong and full of dreams.

hogar pequeño
small home

I chose this photo because this unit shows how people can turn such a small place into a home, a warm place. They are tiny houses that people keep altering for the good of their family.

05 / 15

part 1 · 2024 · casas ara, cerro del marqués

sazón mexicano

mexican seasoning

It shows a woman selling at her food stall. I chose this photo because it shows the hard work people put in day after day.

06 / 15

rutas de vida
routes of life

It reflects the daily life of those who work in public transport in the communities of Valle de Chalco, showing their essential role in urban mobility. I described this photograph for the impact and the importance it holds in how people get around every day.

manejando a mi destino
driving to my destiny

The photograph shows a driver, and I give it this possible meaning: we are the ones who decide the direction of our life and our destiny, just as only we decide the route we want to take. I chose this photo for the personal meaning I give it and for the beautiful colours in it.

08 / 15

aroma a barro
the smell of clay

I chose this photo because it is a stall I go to all the time. The pots and jugs are part of my everyday life. And clay gives off a lovely smell when it gets wet.

recién horneado
fresh from the oven

I chose this photo because the smell in bakeries is lovely.

10 / 15

part 1 · 2024 · casas ara, cerro del marqués

esperando su baile

waiting for its dance

Traditional skirts and dresses for everyday wear or for the school dances. Their stage is the street, their spotlight the sun.

11 / 15

dando el rol
out for a wander

Two young men walking along one of the main avenues. They look at the photographers with curiosity.

chofer del barrio
the neighbourhood driver

A moto-taxi driver waiting for his next passengers. When we asked about the photo he kindly agreed and posed.

13 / 15

una tarde de carnitas
an afternoon of carnitas

You can see a range of meats laid out for customers to buy. I chose this photo for what it conveys: the variety of food in our country, and the way we Mexicans enjoy a good grill, with family or with close friends.

el carrusel mágico
the magic carousel

Horses turning around other horses. I chose the photo because in the background you can see several horses that are fairly beautiful, and once lit up at night they look magnificent.

15 / 15

what is around

the Casas ARA neighbourhood, photographed by the participants

the workshop

the exhibition in the neighbourhood

The prints were pasted onto the walls of the colonia, in the school yard, on gates and shop shutters. Nobody had to travel to see the exhibition: it was on the way.