El Nigromante” cultural center is OPEN!

Published December 2nd, 2021

Due to the sanitary emergency caused by the Covid pandemic, the cultural center “El Nigromante” remained closed for more than 1 year and 8 months, it was forced to close its doors to the public in March 2020, and it was until December 1, 2021, that they reopened.

As of this Wednesday, December 1, the San Miguel de Allende School of the Arts resumes on-site activity, and they do so under a strict sanitary protocol, which consists of a filter with a disinfectant mat, application of antibacterial gel, temperature check that does not exceed 37.5ºC, mandatory use of a mouth cover and respect for healthy distance, as well as limited seating capacity.

In this reopening, there are some new exhibitions, some of these are the exhibition of the mural-installation Égalité, by the artist Minerva Cuevas, and one by the artist Enrique Días entitled “Sin Límite de Tiempo” which is a series of 25 engravings of the sanitary confinement.

The different audiences will also be able to see the mural Vida y Obra del General Ignacio Allende, by David Alfaro Siqueiros, as well as the frescoes by artists Pedro Martínez and Eleanor Cohen, as part of the campaign #VolverAVerte of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL).

Minerva Cuevas’ work consists of the intervention of the logo of a well-known French brand of bottled water, to transform it into the word Égalité, which in French means equality. This new symbol presents a tower of PVC bottles that also reads: “The freedom of each individual can only be the freedom of all”, a critical remark about the commercial distribution of common goods, in this case, water, which is seen by some as a profitable commercial product, despite the fact that it is a universal human right.

In Enrique Días’ exhibition, we can see a wrestler fighting against the coronavirus, or figures such as Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Emiliano Zapata and Frida Kahlo wearing mouth covers. There are also characters from the Mexican lottery and representatives of native cultures with messages in Mayan and Tsotsil languages, as a gesture that contributes to the initiative Ni una lengua menos, promoted by the Federal Ministry of Culture.

The renovation of spaces at El Nigromante Cultural Center includes the relocation of the Educal bookstore with more square meters dedicated to literature and publications of diverse genres. On Tuesday, December 7, at 5:00 p.m., the writer Fritz Glockner, Educal’s general director, together with the collaborators of the cultural center and the bookstore, will give to the public copies of the collection 21 para el 21, while the Ensamble de maestros de la Orquesta Sinfónica de San Miguel de Allende will offer a varied repertoire with some Christmas pieces.

The reopening program also includes two Christmas concerts with the Ensemble and the San Miguel de Allende Symphony Orchestra, on Tuesdays December 14 and 21 at 7:00 p.m. at the Miguel Malo Auditorium, which will be held with reduced seating capacity.

Also included are the free workshops for the Christmas season, which this year will be: Painting of winter landscapes, Christmas cards with linoleum engraving, reed basketry lamps, and traditional cardboard piñatas. Information and inscriptions by e-mail: talleres.elnigromante@inba.edu.mx

The cultural center will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. It will be closed on Mondays.