Estanquillo Museum. Carlos Monsiváis Collections Opening Exhibit: The Order of Appearance

Museo del Estanquillo
Ciudad de México, México
Curaduría: Rafael Barajas “El Fisgón”
Proyecto realizado en colaboración con Javier Sánchez, Lara Kadner y Michel Grizas
Noviembre 2006

When I go out to the street, in the mornings, I always ask myself the same question: how is it possible that this city is still standing? Carlos María de Bustamante (1774-1848)

This museographic presentation and masterplan intended to respect and recover the original architecture of the space that housed in the XIX century the luxurious jewelry store La Esmeralda. Thus, the eclectic character in the collection as well as in the building set the guidelines to draft the museographic furnishing to be used on each floor. On the first floor, a more ornamental character showed the furnishing in accordance with the time period. On the second, the apparent structure allowed the execution of an “industrial” and transparent museography.

Simultaneously, working closely with the curator allowed the selection from over 500 pieces from the multicolored, eclectic and delirious collection of Carlos Monsiváis, which started In Order of Appearance, opening exhibit that dealt with the Mexican identity and faced the spectator with Mexico and its inhabitants’ history through photography, graphics, miniatures, publications, models, Mexican papier maché, amongst other urban art expressions evoking what we are, or as El fisgón (Mexican cartoonist) puts it, what we think we are.

Project carried out with the collaboration of Javier Sánchez, Lara Kadner and Michel Grizas.