Zona Maco
Calle Hipólito Taine 212, Polanco, Polanco V Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de México, CDMX
One of Mexico City’s main characteristics is its history, it’s probably what foreigners think about first: the pyramids, the Spanish colonialism, etc. But the city has been promoting modern and contemporary art in a great variety of ways over the past few decades, there’s no shortage of buildings and events dedicated to the culture of the present moment. One of these projects is Zona MACO, Latin America’s largest art fair. It was founded in 2002 by Zélika García with four events that take place annually at the CItibanamex Convention Center (which is located right next door to the Las Américas racehorse track on the western part of the city). One of these events is simply called Zona MACO México Arte Contemporáneo which assembles the leading emerging national and international art galleries in one same place.
Zona MACO Diseño (“Design”) is dedicated to the exhibition of furniture, jewelry, textiles, limited edition, and decorative objects, Zona MACO Salón was added in 2014 and focuses on antiques, and finally, Zona MACO Foto, added in 2015, exhibits, vintage, modern and contemporary photography. All these exhibits showcase art in its different, tasteful, forms; it really is a wonderful opportunity for people who appreciate beauty in all its visual forms, in Zona MACO you get the chance to enjoy aesthetically pleasing works of modern art, exquisite antiques, and spectacular photography; everything is designed and presented to please the most demanding aesthete.
The cost of entry for any one of its fairs is $450 pesos, but you can get a discount by purchasing with your American Expres Card, for a final price of $360 pesos (regular student price is $350 pesos). Each of the 4 fairs runs for a few days, normally between Wednesday and Sunday, and probably the easiest way of getting to the Citibanamex Convention Center is to take a taxi or Uber from one of the Metro stations “Polanco”, “Auditorio” or “Tacuba”, all of them on Línea 7.
Along its four different sectors, Zona MACO holds about 200 art galleries, plus it also puts together other tasty happenings devoted to art, in 2022 they partnered with Grupo Espacio to present “Artsy Nights”, a series of music concerts and DJ sets on rooftops, mezcal bars, clubs, and other nightlife centers around Mexico City during art week. Zona MACO is not just an art exhibit but almost like a state of mind; a cool and trendy state of mind.
