While I was roaming the streets of Mexico City, as one does, I came across an exhibition of what I called “toilets” and I was immediately taken. There was what looked like hundreds of hand painted cistern top flush suites lined on Avenue Paseo de la Reforma. The exhibition of these art toilets was installed between the roundabouts of the “Angel of Independence” and “Diana Cazadora.” This was in June 2018 when I visited Mexico City. I was so taken by the exhibition that I decided to take a picture of all the hand painted ceramic art pieces that I could. As you will see in the pictures, all the art pieces were in a glass case, and some of the glass was foggy and therefore I was unable to take clear pictures of the art pieces. For the most part all of the art pieces are clear to view.
When I read about the installation, it turns out that the art project involved about 70 Mexican artists who created the pieces. The project is about water awareness, and the bathroom pieces will be auctioned in 2019 to raise funds and support for basic water supplied and sanitation for two communities in Mexico City. These communities were affected by the earthquakes of 7 and 19 September and the money raised form the auction would help build the sanitation infrastructure of these communities. The exhibition was termed “Creations For Water.” The art pieces will be auctioned on World Water Day.
Of course, coming from Cape Town, a city that has been battling water shortages over the past two years, that has included water restrictions, I was drawn to the exhibition. It would be awesome to have such a visual and creative statement about the water crisis in Cape Town, and other places in the country actually.
The art pieces were so creative. Most of them spoke to the theme of water, while some were abstract, and some were about totally out of the box. I’m no art critique, but I absolutely enjoyed looking at all the art pieces, and thinking about what was running through the artists mind. They also made the street that much more interesting and beautiful. What also made the exhibition interesting is that the “toilet” is often hidden, it is a private space for solitary use. So seeing the exhibition of the “private” made so “public” was interesting commentary on “private” vs. “public” binary.
ART – Bathroom Ceramic Pieces in Mexico City (part 1)