- The activity took place on November 25 and 27 in the cities of Guanajuato and León.
- The project’s goal is to invite participants to imagine changes in their nearby community, taking art as a vehicle for discovery and encounter.
- The workshop was held within the framework of exhibitions with pieces from the FEMSA Collection, which are presented at the Conde Rul Museum, in the city of Guanajuato, and the Museum of Art and History of Guanajuato, in the city of León.
- The exhibitions ‘The nature of our encounters. Video art from FEMSA Collection at the MAHG’ and ‘The first rain in the desert. Dialogues FEMSA-IECG Collection’ will remain open to the public until February 27 and March 31, 2022, respectively.
Guanajuato, México, December 20, 2021. On November 25 and 27, FEMSA Foundation brought the “El Faro” workshop to the Guanajuato community. This project, which was implemented in the cities of Guanajuato capital and León, aim to facilitate meetings between participants of multiple profiles, inviting them to think about ways to positively influence their nearby communities.
The workshop had two venues: on Thursday, November 25, it was held at the Conde Rul Museum (where the exhibition “The first rain in the desert. Dialogues FEMSA-IECG Collection” is currently being presented) in Guanajuato capital, and on Saturday the 27th it was held at the Museum of Art and History of Guanajuato (which houses the exhibition “The nature of our encounters. Video art from FEMSA Collection at MAHG”), located in the city of León.
Throughout the workshop, attendees participated in activities focused on listening, sharing and generating an open dialogue around issues that they are interested in changing in their community. These activities included a visit to the exhibitions in both museums, where various works from FEMSA Collection were addressed through questions, opinions and observations from the attendees.
Starting from this approach to art as a space to imagine and share stories, participants were invited to tell and listen to personal stories (with the guidance of facilitators), in order to meet, listen to and recognize themselves.
After experiencing a different way of seeing art and creating connections with personal experiences, the participants created their own work in teams, starting from the knowledge that there are multiple stories that deserve to be told and heard, and using artistic practices that allow exploring different forms of do it.
The implementation of this workshop is thanks to the close collaboration between the Art and Culture team of FEMSA Foundation, the Museum team of the State Institute of Culture of Guanajuato and the Museum of Art and History of Guanajuato. This alliance has made it possible for FEMSA Collection to present its pieces in the state of Guanajuato over the last few years, as happened on this occasion for the presentation of two exhibitions within the framework of the 49th International Cervantino Festival.
‘The first rain in the desert. Dialogues FEMSA-IECG Collection’will remain open to the public until March 31, 2022, at the Conde Rul Museum, an enclosure which is under the direction of the State Institute of Culture of Guanajuato and that is located at Av. Benito Juárez 8, Zona Centro, CP 36000 Guanajuato, Gto., Mexico.
‘The nature of our encounters. Video art from FEMSA Collection at the MAHG’ will be on display until February 27, 2022 in the Sala CoLab [Colaboración Laboratorio] Arte que crece en Guanajuato, a new space for temporary exhibitions at the Museum of Art and History of Guanajuato. This space is located in Prol. Calzada de los Héroes 908, esq. Vasco de Quiroga, Col. La Martinica, C.P. 37500, León, Gto., Mexico.
###
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company that creates economic and social value through companies and institutions and seeks to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it has a presence. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which includes the Proximity Division and of which OXXO, a chain of small format stores, is a part of. It also has a Health Division that includes pharmacies and related activities as well as a Fuel Division that operates the service stations chain, OXXO Gas. In the beverage industry it operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, public bottler of Coca-Cola products; in the beer sector, as the second largest shareholder of HEINEKEN, one of the world’s leading beer companies with a presence in more than 70 countries. Additionally, through FEMSA’s Strategic Businesses Business Unit, it offers logistics services, point-of-sale refrigeration solutions and plastics solutions to FEMSA companies and external clients. FEMSA also participates in the cleaning products and consumables distribution industry in the United States. Through its Business Units, it employs approximately 320 thousand employees in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainable IPC, among other indexes that evaluate its performance in sustainability.
About FEMSA Foundation
In FEMSA Foundation our goal is to create positive impacts on people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability. We make a better future for all by working in three strategic areas: the promotion of efficient resource management for sustainable development, the promotion of the integral development of early childhood and the dissemination of Latin American art and culture. For more information, visit us at www.fundacionfemsa.org or follow us on Facebook (/ FundacionFEMSA) and Twitter (@FundacionFEMSA).
About FEMSA Collection
For over 40 years, FEMSA Collection has sought to preserve, document, consolidate, promote and disseminate modern and contemporary Latin American art. Established in 1977 as part of the company’s commitment to the integral development of its workers, families and their communities, it is currently recognized as one of the most important corporate collections worldwide. Its collection, consisting of more than 1200 works, offers a tour that illustrates the evolution, plurality and richness of artistic production in Latin America during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through an active program of exhibitions, individual loans for works, publications and various academic and educational activities, FEMSA shares its Collection with the most diverse communities in Mexico and abroad, fulfilling its goal of promoting the dissemination of culture and the promotion of artistic appreciation. The FEMSA Collection is part of the FEMSA Foundation, which create positive impacts on people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability.