Museo de Cultura Digital
Av. Paseo de la Reforma S/N, Juárez, Miguel Hidalgo, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX
55 1000 2637
https://centroculturadigital.mx
One of the most controversial landmarks in all of Mexico has been the Estela de Luz monument which was built between 2010 and 2011 to commemorate the Independence of Mexico’s bicentennial celebration; it was inaugurated in 2012 by then-president Felipe Calderón and the project ended up being an artistic piece of work with a bland visual appearance but that became, more than anything, a monument to inefficiency and corruption between government officials and construction providers. The original budget of $200 million pesos skyrocketed to a total of $83 million dollars when all was said and done. The government looked for a way to turn the Estela de Luz into something more functional, that actually provided the city with an added value.
And so the Centro de Cultura Digital (“Digital Cultural Center”) was created. It’s located at the base of the Estela de Luz in order to put the space inside the foundations of the monument to better use. It’s the country’s first public space dedicated to producing and promoting cultural projects that are a consequence of living in a technological world. It’s a physical and virtual space that’s open to the general public and is also dedicated to investigating the cultural, social, and economic implications that derive from the daily use of digital technology. The museum’s mission is to focus exclusively on digital art through exhibition and immersion. One of its most immersive areas is its huge white gallery in the basement that’s completely illuminated by color lights. The museum aims to teach society that we now live in a world where users consume AND can create art at the same time.
The museum is divided into several sections; one of them is the terrace, which has an interactive wall of lights along with other exhibitions that showcase digital work created through the interaction with the visitors, showing that aspect that we mentioned of users both using and creating art. There’s a movie theatre called the Sala Mas Allá (Out There and Beyond Room) which seats 120 people and shows a collection of films provided by the Cineteca Nacional (National Film Library). There have also been concerts there, such as some dates for Mutek, a Montreal-based festival dedicated to electronic music and digital arts.
The Museo de Cultura Digital looks to offer a new and fresh option in the city’s catalog of museums, which are mostly devoted to highlighting the culture and history of the past. This recently new museum teaches people that the future can be just as interesting and exciting.
