Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola

Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola
La Casa del Lago
Location in Mexico
Established	1959
Coordinates	19°25′22″N 99°11′11″W / 19.422655°N 99.186494°W / 19.422655; -99.186494
Type	Cultural center
Owner	National Autonomous University of Mexico
Website	www.casadellago.unam.mx%20www.casadellago.unam.mx

Casa del Lago was instituted in 1959 as the first off-campus Cultural Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It is characterized by its extraordinary ability to promote the cultural and generational encounter between the vanguard and tradition. It was established with Juan José Arreola as its founding director and is located in the Woods of Chapultepec, a traditional Sunday walk area for the inhabitants of the capital.

In each of the artistic disciplines, that have taken place in this multifaceted enclosure, the originality and experimentation have gathered together and allowed the creators to show how the contemporary is not incompatible with the large popular audience that visit it, turn it into an emblematic place in the cultural scene of the city.

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/1
Views:
1 787

Transcription

¡Hello friends welcome to other program of Vagabundeando! Join me to walk through in the beautiful Mexico city I´m Juan Carlos de la Mora... This time we are in a place located in a lake shore, having as backdrop a legendary forest, so no more previews, ¡the tour starts right now! ¡To wander away! I´m talking about the wonder Casa del Lago(House of the Lake) Juan Jose Arreola that has focused entirely to promote and diffuse artistic activities as well as preserving environment. The House of the Lake Juan José Arreola is located in Chapultepec Forest, San Miguel Chaputepec neighborhood, Miguel Hidalgo District. This place is considered one of most beautiful due its architecture. This place was created on April, 1908, was designed to be the first Automobile Club of Mexico, at center of Chapultepec forest. In times its construction, the automobile was considered a deluxe artifact, that´s why The House of the Lake was constructed under a design very elegant and notorious due historical context lived in Porfirio Diaz´ government. Since its foundation, The House of the Lake has changed and has been used for many activities. It was used as private residence of former president Adolfo de la Huerta in 1921, as Secretary of Agriculture in 1926, as well as Direction Biological Researching, latterly headquarters of Institute of Biology of UNAM. It was until September 15, 1959 when The House of the Lake opened its doors officially. But ¡don´t go away friends! After the break we´ll continue in this beautiful place House of the Lake Juan Jose Arreola, we´ll be right back! It was to the support of the principal of the UNAM, Doctor Nabor Carrillo, the house became in cultural sponsor and promoter out from the campus. Juan Jose Arreola was the first principal of the precinct. This famous Mexican artist of Hispano American words; he was the promoter of the movement "Poesía en voz Alta" (Poetry aloud), notorious movement in the house of the lake. The property became in the first College Cultural Center where the diffusion and promotion of the culture are the main objectives as well as supporting artists and summon the creativity. It is a reference point for international and national artistic vanguard, gathering Young creators, today very recognized within cultural activities as Rosario Castellanos, José Emilio Pacheco, Elena Garro, Leonora Carrington, Jose Luis Cuevas Ofelia Medina; among others. We must say that during student movement in 1968, one of the most important of Mexico in XX century, the house of the lake was headquarters of Strike National Council. On January, 2002, by agreement of Juan Ramon de la Fuente this precinct was called in honor of that great writer. The house of the lake Juan Jose Arreola today has become in one of the most recognized places within country and Latin America. With a large show-bill where artistic diversity gather to show many tendencies; professionalism and quality are notorious. This precinct is place to receive artistic activities as literature, cinematographic, theater, musical and visual arts. La Casa del Lago( The house of the Lake), besides being art promoter, also it is focused to preserve the environment. As we said you at the beginning of the program the house of the lake immersed in the famous Chapultepec forest, the bigger city park in Latin America, pretend to establish colloquia and actions that promote researching about relations between different artistic styles, society and environment. About that we must say "We understand environment as global system constituted by human, natural and artificial elements and the way those link together, as well as the way are modified by human being and coincide the living forms of society". So the house gardens are used as scenery to different artistic styles in conjunction with the environment. Don´t go away friends, after the break we are going to see the exhibitions in The house of the lake, we´ll be right back! As we said you before the break join me to see the exhibitions in this wonderful place, follow me! I´m with Victor Palcios curator of House of the Lake, thank for the interview, May you talk about Momento Magnetico en Rotación, (Magnetic Moment in Rotation) It is an individual exhibition of French artist Fleur Noguera, in the house of the lake we do always exhibitions the graphic or painting, she is an artist that works constantly the topic about landscape, this time we have 23 collages, regarding with topic about Austrian medic Franz Mesmer, consider him as maker of modern hypnosis, basically we have these 24 collages all of them have fluorescent backgrounds yellow, green and pink some of them as reflectors of the space, we must say that this is not a graphic exhibition in strict way; the artist wanted to depict it is an environment adjustment, to transfer limits, she plays with backgrounds, we can see these cuts where there are a lot of light. That´s why her collages gain tridimensional attributes. Very interesting Victor! What do you think if we go to the second exhibition called (Vertigo de la abundancia) (Vertigo of the abundance). Well Victor, we are in the second exhibition called (Vertigo de la Abundancia) (Vertigo of the Abundance) May you tell us about it? It is an exhibition curated by Josefa Ortega basically is an approaching to contemporary art, politics and consumerism patterns. Ok very well, how does this exhibition arise? In the House of the lake, we want always linking art with environment, we understand it as something constituted by social, political and economical factors among others then one of the topics that we must consider it is the consumerism because the one has links with environment and society, the contemporary art talks about these topics and daily life, Josefa could find some works that talks about these topics, long time ago, so it is an important topic depicted by modern artists. Finally we are in the last exhibition of House of the Lake, called "Comedores de Lot" (Lotus Eaters) May you tell us what this exhibition shows? This exhibition talks about ontological dilemma about consumerism of substances that disturb our perception, commonly called them drugs, legal or illegal; it is an important topic today as consumerism we saw it, the consumerism and drug traffic are two activities that affect the environment as well as social and political aspects; we wanted to show to the visitors a huge perspective about this dilemma or tendency of human being, not only about present but many centuries ago, this is something belonging to human kind since ancient times, this is not a topic of XX century; that´s why we wanted to call "Comedores de Loto" (Loto Eaters), making reference to the Odyssey where Ulysses and his crew go ashore in the lotus eaters island. This collective exhibition talks about the dilemma around the consumerism of substances that disturb our perception. There is the questioning regarding the relation with nature and social context belonged. Which are the schedules to come here? Wednesday through Sunday 11:00 to 17:30. How much is it? It is totally free. So there is no excuses to come here for our friends and see all these wonderful exhibitions, thank so much for this interview, we continue with this tour friends. So the gardens of the house, the outdoor forum as within its small halls and exhibition spaces; it was experimented and broken with dominant styles of the art, therefore this cultural center has become in a obligated reference for new artistic tendencies. So the house of lake over 53 years has become a place full of stories and scenery of many artistic vanguards. For me it was a pleasure you have joined me in other Monday of "Vagabundeando" by one of the hidden places in Mexico city. I´m seeing you the next week on... and If you want leave suggestions and comments on... I´m Juan Carlos de la Mora we have a date the next Monday so... ¡See you next time!

Activities

As in the beginning, half a century ago, Casa del Lago, opens its doors to young, national and foreign artists with original and controversial proposals, with a cultural offering where emerging expressions are significant. Intense work is done in the field of visual arts, which provides the necessary means and space for artists of different ages to develop their ideas and their quality curatorial projects. It has also promoted the theatrical work of the younger generation of directors and actors. Dance has brought together the most diverse choreographic styles, all in unconventional spaces.

Alternative and emergent music has been present in diverse groups and soloists playing rock, jazz, tango, flamenco, new song, and new trends of the genres. Chess, driven by Juan José Arreola, is maintained through the various tournaments that are held annually. The Cinema Club has promoted the documentary form in a permanent way through its participation in festivals (Ambulante and DOCSDF) and has opened its spaces to young filmmakers in different film debate cycles. The program of courses and workshops has increased in over 30 disciplines, many with new and critical vision.

It revived, from a contemporary perspective, what initially was known as Poetry Out Loud, just a few years after the inauguration of this university forum in Chapultepec, through a festival that seeks to reclaim this tradition that called thinkers, intellectuals and artist of the time. It links national and international artists of today with prominent poets from different oral traditions, as the "decimistas jarochos", indigenous poets, and the recent generation of young Mexican artists, from new literary currents, where the new musical technologies are also present, the writing in relation to sound, rhythm and the lyric skills of the artist.

Casa del Lago has multiplied its cultural offers in the same way that the university community and the creators and public communities have increased, keeping alive that "dialogue between history and present as a basis of their identity", making permanent that spirit of risk, of its vocation in the search for the experimental, emergent and purposeful, becoming an alternative art site, ideal meeting place for young people and for the people, by their tastes and training.^{[citation needed]} For example, from 27 August 2009 to 6 September 2009 Caso del Lago staged an exhibition of avant-garde installation art in its grounds featuring ¿Olvida usted algo? – ¡Ojalá! by artist Susana Rodríguez and Gloria Desierta by Emanuel Tovar.^[1]

Among alumni of the Case del Lago is painter Eva Laura Moraga.^[2]

History

The construction of the building began in 1906, but it was inaugurated as the headquarters of the first Automobile Club in Mexico until April 30, 1908. In 1929, it was home to the Biological Studies Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Development (la Dirección de Estudios Biológicos de la Secretaría de Agricultura y Fomento). University autonomy definitely influenced the fate of Casa del Lago joining it to the National University and housing the new Institute for Biology, until 1959 when it moved to the new facilities created in Ciudad Universitaria (University City). On 10 May 1959 the enclosure opened its doors as a center for the promotion and dissemination of culture, but the official opening took place on September 15 of the same year.

By agreement of the rector Juan Ramón de la Fuente 31 January 2002 it was given the name of its founding director: Juan José Arreola, who turned it into the model of the national cultural centre with deep roots and prestige in Latin America, and where, over the past 50 years, representatives of the artistic vanguard of the country have gathered.

Since 1959, the University has undertaken, with extraordinary energy, the avant-garde, the experimentation and the renewal of many of the anachronistic criteria that had been adapted to culture. A new generation began at Casa del Lago when notorious figures such as José Luis Ibáñez, Leonora Carrington, Juan Soriano, Octavio Paz and even Juan José Arreola, who along with Miguel Gonzalez Avelar, to name a few, began to promote Poetry Out Loud, Chess Tournaments and the Philatelic Club.

Tomás Segovia, successor of Arreola, poet and essayist, created an extraordinary group of young writers, among whom Juan García Ponce, short story writer, novelist and playwright, stands out; thanks to his essays and notes about visual arts, he examined and promoted artists like: Vicente Rojo, Lilia Carrillo, José Luis Cuevas, Fernando García Ponce, Alberto Gironella and Manuel Felguerez; giving also a huge boost to the music of young artists through the program Nueva Música en México (New Music in Mexico), which got together people like Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, Rocío Sanz and other leading artists and composers.

Other figures that embodied the spirit of Casa del Lago were: Juan Vicente Melo and Juan José Gurrola. Melo dermatologist and music critic replace Segovia and develop a remarkable task: Conference Cycles of literary authors and composers, small exhibitions of the mentioned artists and plays that renewed the scenic work and vanguard music concerts. Juan José Gurrola bright and bold, who began as an actor in Poetry Out Loud, always proposed avant-garde attitudes in his staging. It was an extraordinary period for Casa del Lago, awarded by the Association of Theatre and Music Critics for giving room to the artistic compositions of the twentieth century, positioning itself as one of the most renowned cultural centers in the capital of the country.

In 1982 the group called Los Estridentistas attracted public attention due to the confusion created by an exhibition about this literary group of the 20s. The exhibition at the time was the appropriate framework to exhibit the work of 80 sculptors as part of the meeting of sculptors, where they discussed issues related to sculpture and other disciplines.

Casa del Lago also gave shelter to the artists called "the rupture generation" when in 1989 they made an important exhibition in which works that once were rejected by commercial galleries were included. The Documentary Cinema Club gained special significance as a unique space of its kind in the capital.

The evening walks along the Bosque de Chapultepec (Woods of Chapultepec), with the collaboration of the Directorate of the Forest, since 1999 to date, has been a project that the university community and the population have received with great interest, since it has contributed to the rescue of the historical and artistic values of the largest urban park in Latin America.

Promotion of culture by nature, Casa del Lago has always been the ideal platform for experimentation in arts and to encourage the new generation of creators.

Location

It is located in the heart of the Woods of Chapultepec, where significant work in the diffusion of culture has been done in the last fifty years. It is an emblematic space of Mexico City, where the representatives of the country's cultural vanguard have gathered and which endorses the mission of promoting culture as essential in the integral formation of young university students and the large audience who visit it.

It has developed an intense program of activities including expositions, rock concerts and alternative music, conferences, courses and workshops, Festival of Poetry Out Loud and everything related to emerging and experimental arts.