Our hotel is right next to the Zocalo, or the main plaza in Mexico City’s centro historico, so today we walked around the square and explored the Palacio Nacional, the Cathedral Metropolitana and the Templo Mayor archeological site. Modern Mexico City was built by the Spaniards on the ruins of the capital of the Aztec Empire and it is this layering of history (this stratum upon rich stratum of culture and diversity, of architecture and religious beliefs, of violence and beauty, of art and truth telling) which makes Mexico so bewitching. One of the reasons I wanted to visit Mexico City was Diego Rivera’s monumental work: his murals at the Palacio Nacional. They did not disappoint. Imagine Karl Marx as a Moses like figure standing on Mount Sinai with his commandments. It took 22 years for Rivera to complete his masterpiece. It’s astonishing both as an artistic achievement, a detailed historical narrative, a triumph of the human imagination as well as bold politics. He tells it like it is, all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly but also the hopeful. Since the Palacio houses the President’s offices, my son asked pointedly if such art and politics could ever be displayed on the walls of the White House. A very good question.
