Mexico City – Alameda Central

Apart from Chapultepec, there aren’t that many parks in central Mexico City. The one exception is Alameda. It’s a well manicured, pretty garden right in the centre of town. Surrounding the park, are a number of really cool art galleries and museums.

The first museum I wander into was the Diego Rivera Museum. This museum was purpose built to house a gigantic mural Rivera painted in 1947. It is entitled “Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda”. To you and me, that’s “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda”. The mural was originally in a hotel foyer, but the hotel fell over during the massive 1985 earthquake. A massive effort was required to move the mural. The process of moving it is documented inside the museum.

The mural itself is pretty impressive. For such a large mural, there is a lot of detail to see. Pictured, are famous people from throughout the turbulent history of Mexico. Luckily, there’s a decoder inside so you can work out who is who. Even better, there’s an explanation of who these people are.

As is normal with Rivera, he’s painted himself into the mural. Well, twice actually! Frida Kahlo also makes an appearance. To be honest, I had no idea who most of the other people were, but it was still great to look at.

Next door to this museum, is the Laboratorio de Arte Alameda. This is a museum built inside an old church. To me, that’s pretty funky. I’m not too sure about the contents though. The museum is designed to promote and encourage new, avante guarde artists. When I visited, this consisted of a lot of very pretentious “look at me” installations. Some of them were interesting. Most of them were pretty dire. Luckily, the admission to the museum was pretty cheap, so I didn’t complain too much.

On the other side of the park, is the Museo Franz Mayer. This was pretty cool. When I visited, there was a temporary display of contemporary metalwork and jewellery, which was amazingly cool. Next door, was a static display of applied design through the ages This was a lot less interesting, but still worth a visit.

The main feature of the area, is the Palacio de Bellas Artes. This is a magnificent building that is one of the most recognised buildings in the city. In addition to theatre and ballet, it also hosts temporary exhibits. When I was there, I was in for a special treat, but more on that later.

For such a congested and polluted city, it’s good to have a place to get away from the grime. The Alameda is such a place. It’s a sea of green in an otherwise brown city.