Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros

The Polyforum Siqueiros is a space that accommodates multiple artistic, cultural, social and political expressions. It is a private museum which was planned and executed by the artist David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1960s, at the request of businessman Manuel Suarez Suarez. Outside the building there are twelve panels, it is a dodecahedron, with murals.

The Universal Forum contains the mural La Marcha de la Humanidad en la Tierra y hacia el Cosmos. Miseria y Ciencia. The great artist's work is a metaphor for the struggles that men and women have fought throughout history in search of freedom and knowledge.

There is a space for modern and contemporary proposals called Emerging Art Space, it has an area of 700 m² and 180 m of linear exhibition space for temporary exhibitions.

What it actually is. The Polyforum is not a museum with murals inside: it is a building conceived as the support for a single work. Siqueiros planned it with an international team of architects, engineers, sculptors and acoustics specialists —with input from Japan, Italy and Argentina— it was commissioned around 1960 and, after political and financial delays, opened definitively in 1971. It was originally part of the World Trade Center complex and now runs as an independent cultural centre.

The March of Humanity. The work covers the walls and ceilings of the Foro Universal, some eleven metres high, and spills onto the exterior panels facing Insurgentes; it is routinely described as the largest mural in the world. Its subject is the evolution of humanity from past to present with an eye on the future. The Foro stages a light-and-sound show with a recording of Siqueiros explaining the work: that is the way to see it, because simply walking through cannot take it all in.

What else is there. The circular theatre is laid out like a Greek amphitheatre and is used for performances and events; there are temporary exhibitions and a permanent display of photographs, personal belongings of Siqueiros and of the businessman Manuel Suárez, plus original models of the building. In the grounds stands a sculpture by Gabriel Ponzanelli, the same artist behind the coyotes in Coyoacán's Jardín Centenario.

Getting there. It is at Insurgentes Sur 701, colonia Nápoles, next to the World Trade Center. The Polyforum stop on Metrobús Line 1 is right outside, and San Pedro de los Pinos on metro Line 7 is a few blocks away. Check the show times before you go, as the presentation does not run continuously.