Latinitas Reports from SXSW 2017
This week at South By Southwest, you may have seen the colorful mural that Mexican artist Héctor Ruiz was so meticulously painting on the side of the Mexic-Arte Museum. Located at the corner of 5th & Congress Streets, the mural depicts a generic Mexican landscape in bright colors with the words “We Are All Mexico” painted across the top of the image.
I caught up with Ruiz as he added the finishing touches to his artwork on March 11.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what brings you to Austin.
I’m a painter and an illustrator from Mexico City. I was born in Ciudad Juárez but I live in Mexico City right now. The Mexican Consulate invited me to work with the Mexic-Arte Museum to paint this mural for SXSW so people can take pictures and be proud of their Mexican heritage.
What inspired this work?
The idea is like a giant postcard so people stop and take pictures and selfies, and share on social media. It’s a landscape — Mexico — to provide pride in where you’re from.
Have you done any other recent works that we could look at?
You can look at my work on Instagram. This is my first time in Austin, but I’ve done murals in Mexico, Juárez, El Paso, and other places.
What is the message behind this mural?
Just to make a statement, with everything that’s going on in the news recently, that we all come from the same place and we are all together here in this world. And just to be respectful to each other.
Ruiz, along SXSW and Casa México, brought this message of unity and solidarity at a time of uncertainty for many Latina/o undocumented immigrants. You can check out Ruiz’s other works on Instagram (@reezruiz) and follow Mexic-Arte Museum on social media to see their latest socially conscious murals featuring Latina/o artists.
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About the Writer
Ilse Garcia Romero is Latinitas’ Public Relations and Community Engagement Intern. She is a Media Studies graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, with a minor in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies. Learn more about Ilse here.
