A Rivera mural on a theatre facade. The Teatro Insurgentes stands on Avenida Insurgentes, in San José Insurgentes, and its entire front is covered by a mosaic mural by Diego Rivera, 46 metres by 10. Unusually, the work has no confirmed title: art historians have proposed Teatro Histórico, Los Insurgentes and Teatro en México.
Why the theatre exists. It was built on the initiative of José María Dávila, who wanted the city to have a large-capacity stage at a time — the 1950s — when almost every theatre here was mid-sized. The architect was Alejandro Prieto and it was finished in 1953. The opening production was Yo Colón, starring Mario Moreno "Cantinflas", who appears in the mural.
How to read it, left to right. It begins with the figures of Mexican independence — Hidalgo, Morelos — then moves through scenes of dance and theatre, and arrives at Cantinflas in the centre, taking money from the rich and handing it to the poor.
The detail almost nobody notices. Below that central scene Rivera painted two figures: "1000000 x 9000" and "20,000000" — roughly nine thousand millionaires against twenty million poor, the Mexico of the 1950s stated as arithmetic on a theatre wall. It was a denunciation then; the arithmetic has not stopped being relevant.
How it was made. Applied as a dry-rendered synthetic surface and then covered in glass mosaic tiles, produced in Italian workshops.
Practical notes. Insurgentes Sur #1587. Metrobús line 1 runs along the avenue and stops in front; Metro Barranca del Muerto, line 7, is a few minutes away. The mural is on the street and free to look at, at any hour — best in late-afternoon light.
in the morning or in the evening
Félix Parra 69, San José Insurgentes,Ciudad de México. 03900
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