After five years of doubts, claims, criticism, contrasts and silences, the federal and local authorities announced yesterday that the headquarters where the total legacy of Octavio Paz and of Mary Jo It will be La Perulera, an 18th century building that served as the summer residence of a wealthy Peruvian family, located at Felipe Carrillo Puerto 445, where the desk used by the poet is already on display, among many other objects.
Said space will also house a Seedbed, the Marie Jo and Octavio Paz Trust —which will manage the legacy—, and the Cencropam temporary laboratory. But beyond the ceremony and the tinsel that is given to this type of event, with speeches that promise glory and summarize so many achievements, I still have some doubts on the fly that, of course, the officials could not resolve… due to lack of time .
ONE. How did you come to the conclusion that Leticia Luna is the best option to run Casa Paz? I don’t know if she was close to the poet, but her sad
His performance at the head of the INBAL National Literature Coordination (from June 2019 to February 2023) should be enough for him not to occupy a position with such responsibility. In four years as head of the CNL, he flatly refused to give interviews, and why? Because she is like that. Are there not real promoters of the work of Paz in Mexico?
OF THE. A year ago the SC said (excelsior04/12/2022) that the legacy of Paz would be deposited in the Antigua Fábrica de Pólvora, in Chapultepec (it will no longer happen), and affirmed that the documentary heritage would be opened until July 2043, which yesterday was not denied or confirmed, because apparently the date to be considered is 25 years of the death of Paz and not from the Marie-Jo. Or was it the other way around?
THREE. The museography experts who assembled the poet’s personal objects, with works of art and photographs, did not do so with much order. No one said if the curatorial discourse was chronological, thematic, or random. I understand that the assembly was done in a week, but at first glance the exhibition results in controlled chaos that does not provide much of an idea about the Mexican Nobel Prize for Literature.
FOUR. It has been insisted that the legacy of Paz will not be dispersed, but at the same time it is said that the documents will be sent on loan? to El Colegio Nacional, given the testamentary disposition that no mortal knows. When will the document that would consummate the segmentation of the legacy be made public?
CINCO. Yesterday, the Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE) was subtly alluded to, for example, when it invoked “the renewal of the contracts with the historic publishing house of Paz”. Why was she not present? Paco Ignacio Taibo II? It would have been a good opportunity for the seal of the Mexican State to talk about the plans for the poet’s work.
BOLIVER WALL
Last week we discussed in this space the uncertain fate of the mural The great national values of Mexicoby the painter and poet from Durango Angel Bolivermade in 1973 in the lobby of the building on Avenida Juárez 92 and dismantled in June 2022 for its transfer to a warehouse in Iztapalapa, without until then there being a clear position from the capital authorities and INBAL regarding the destination of the piece .
Days after, Alfonso Suarez del Real, head of the Liaison Office of Mexico in Strasbourg, noted the following: “There is a commitment to integrate it into the project, since said integration will give a patrimonial value to the new architectural complex.” And the INBAL shared with this column that it maintains communication with the local authorities to collaborate in the transfer maneuvers, with specialists from Cencropam, to the definitive place that the government of Mexico City determines in the future. Both points are relevant and here we write them down.
