“Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves.” –Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Healthy cities, like healthy relationships, thrive on good communication and active, engaged dialogue. Ciudad en Diálogo (City in Dialogue) is a new series by Miguel Buenrostro, director of Reactivando Espacios (Reactivating Spaces) and cultural critic and musician Juan Carlos Reyna. Like many cultural leaders in Tijuana, these two work in a style that crosses boundaries: Buenrostro produces photography and video projects, has developed new real estate ventures in downtown Tijuana, and runs a non-profit organization focused on urban development. Juan Carlos Reyna is cultural theorist, writer and composer of music who collaborates with Nortec Collective. Through conscious pairing of speakers from different disciplines, the pair hope to foster just this kind of dynamic and critical dialogue among architects, artists, and the business community in Tijuana.
Since the late 2000s, a new movement in Tijuana has developed: younger, entrepreneurial thinkers and social agents engaged in a critical reshaping of Tijuana, from the inside out.
“This new attitude toward Tijuana’s social fabric and public space has been a guiding factor in the evolution of a new urban imaginary that consists of a self critical point of view,” says Rene Peralta, Tijuana architect and urban theorist. “After decades of external signifiers that have some way or another shaped the perception of the city, certain social groups are interested in forging a new type of citizen with a critical and self-referential point of view.”
The forum will meet on the first and third Thursday of each month in the new HUB Stn, located on Av. Revolución between 6th and 7th, in the newly restored Mexicoach Bus Station building on the second floor.
THIS WEEK: Itzel Martinez del Cañizo, El Hogar al Revés, The Backwards Home (2014) and Rene Peralta, architect and urban theorist
TIME: Wednesday, July 2, 7-10 PM
LOCATION: HUB Stn, In the old Mexicoach Bus Terminal (second floor) on Av. Revolución between 6th and 7th streets
MAP: HUB Stn
The first of the series will meet on a Wednesday, and will feature filmmaker Itzel Martinez del Cañizo (Ciudad de México, 1978), director of the documentaries Triples/Trillizos (2014), Que suena la calle (2006),Ciudad Recuperación (2005) y Salón de Baile La Estrella (2000). Presently she works as Programming Director of the Documentary Film Festival Bordocs. She will present her current film El Hogar al Revés, The Backwards Home (2014).
Interviewing the filmmaker and leading the discussion will be René Peralta (Tijuana, 1968), architect, urban researcher, director of the Master’s degree program in Landscape Urbanism at Woodbury University of Architecture in San Diego, and professor in the Department of Urban Studies at UCSD. Peralta is co-author of the book Here is Tijuana! (2006). Peralta has participated in Architecture and Urbanism Biennial in Shenzhen, China among other international forums.
Martinez del Cañizo believes that City in Dialogue is a forum that is much needed in Tijuana. And, she says, she is very excited to be the first presenter invited to speak, in particular because she will be in dialogue with Peralta. “Rene Peralta has been an important reference for me from the beginning of “El Hogar al Reves,” a project that has taken a long time and has traveled down many roads to get here,” Martinez del Cañizo reflects. “I’m excited to see my work finished, and to hear from the perspective of architecture and urbanism what I have seen and felt as a filmmaker.”
El Hogar al Revés, trailer. from itzel martinez del c. on Vimeo.
Coming Next:
31 July José Jiménez Ortiz
14 August Úrsula Fuentesberain
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Ciudad en diálogo es una iniciativa de Miguel Buenrostro y Juan Carlos Reyna.
Ciudad en diálogo en un foro de debate interdisciplinario en el que serán presentados los trabajos más recientes de artistas destacados dentro y fuera de la ciudad cede. Cada primer y tercer jueves de mes un artista será entrevistado por un colega de otra disciplina con el fin de generar un debate crítico alrededor del efecto que las diferentes prácticas artísticas ejercen en la comunidad.
Próximamente en Tijuana:
31/JUL José Jiménez Ortiz
14/Ago Úrsula Fuentesberain
