Frida Kahlo wrote the words “Viva la vida” – or “Long live life” – on this sumptuous painting that she completed just a few days before she died in 1954. With all the hype and commercialism that has come to immerse her in recent years, it was a real treat to be able to visit her actual home in Mexico City, where she grew up and where she died, and walk through the blooming garden and the colorfully decorated rooms, with their pictures, among others, of Marx and Lenin on the walls, and get a feel for what inspired that remarkable woman.
During my week in Mexico City, I also visited a house once lived in by David Siqueiros – another communist artist, who spent four years in jail for his beliefs – which he had given to the city in 1973 along with paintings, murals and sketches, and which is now a small museum, but where, in striking contrast to Frida Kahlo’s museum, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mexico City, I was the only visitor.
Altogether, it’s been a week marvelling at marvelous art and artefacts, both from the recent past and from Mexico’s pre-columbian past at the many museums and outdoor sites that are to be found in the city. It made me realize how short the age of European and northern American domination has been and how long and rich a legacy Mexico has to build on in the future.
Walking through the Alameda on my last day in the spring sunshine and savoring the local cuisine, and then seeing another Sunday afternoon in the Alameda portrayed as a dreamy vision of Mexico’s history in Diego Rivera’s fabulous mural – yes, Frida Kahlo’s husband was also a painter – was a truly memorable experience.
Let’s hope I can bring some of the warmth and wonder of that experience back to Sweden with me. We’ll be open again at the usual hours on Thursday. Long live life.
AndrewJamison 