As the first speaker of AAA’s new Learning Contexts talk series, artist-educator Jaime Ruíz Martínez will share crucial political context on the relationship between art and education in Mexico. Starting with the inception of the Secretaría de Educación Pública SEP (Department of Public Education) in 1921, Ruíz connects various incidents that transformed anti-systemic sentiment into fuel for the construction of cultural networks.
Through his current work on the education team at Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, and from his experience in self-organised projects in his hometown of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, Ruíz shares hybrid strategies between institutional work and other related economies with the knowledge of the native communities, based on reciprocity and the defence of sustainable principles of existence.
This talk marks the beginning of Ruiz’s residency at AAA in June, where he will work on-site to explore our collections and speak with local educators about how his practice can make an impact within the Hong Kong context.
Learning Contexts is a talk series featuring educators experimenting with new methodologies using their local infrastructures and often limited resources, as they strive to re-envision the art and cultural fields of their communities. The talks—held in Hong Kong—shift the reference points of contemporary art education beyond established and typically colonial narratives. They seek to explore shared affinities and to consider the potential for these methods to be translated across different contexts.
SPEAKER
Jaime Ruíz Martínez
MODERATORS
Susanna Chung and Samira Bose
LANGUAGE
English
VENUE
CCG Library, Asia Art Archive
11/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Jaime Ruíz Martínez is an artist-educator with training in design, visual art, and contemporary thought. His interests revolve around the intersections between different binary paradigms, such as rural-urban, indigenous-colonial, and communal-capitalist, among others, which he explores through drawing, diagramming, and expanded practices with communities. He is the co-founder of the Lugar Común neighbourhood initiative (2012–present) in Oaxaca, which explores rural community self-organisation and citizen participation in urban life alongside other artists and neighbours. Since 2019, he has led the Education Department at Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City.
This talk is conducted as part of Ruíz’s residency at Asia Art Archive. It is part of AAA’s Learning and Participation Programme, generously supported by the S. H. Ho Foundation Limited.