The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) received a Rockefeller Foundation grant of $50,000 for the exhibition, Strange New World/Extraño Nuevo Mundo, Perspectivas desde Tijuana, which will open in July 2005 in San Diego and subsequently tour to other museums around the U.S. and beyond.
Strange New World/Extraño Nuevo Mundo is the first major museum exhibition to survey the burgeoning arts scene in Tijuana, Mexico. Thriving in a decidedly post-modern border economy, Tijuana is a distinct, fluid place. Strange New World/Extraño Nuevo Mundo will try to capture the city’s energy of constant flux as it is harnessed by a young generation of artists. Tapping into Tijuana’s vibrant community of artists, architects, filmmakers, musicians and scholars MCASD’s exhibition will portray this complicated and exciting city from the varying perspectives of different disciplines and media.
Hugh M. Davies, The David C. Copley Director of MCASD, said, “We are honored to have this recognition and support from one of the nation’s most prominent philanthropic organizations. The Rockefeller Foundation’s grant to Strange New World/Extraño Nuevo Mundo is an important imprimatur that will help us secure additional public and private support, and – more importantly – is a national signal of the cultural importance of Tijuana and our bicultural, binational region.”
Including a full-color, bilingual scholarly catalogue, a musical CD, and a film festival, Strange New World/Extraño Nuevo Mundo will present a multi-faceted portrait of Tijuana, a city that is derided as a dangerous “sin-city” and yet remains relatively unknown in Mexico City and Los Angeles. The exhibition will be on view at both of MCASD’s locations – La Jolla and downtown San Diego. MCASD’s La Jolla facility will host works made between 1970 and 1990 by artists such as Felipe Almada, Álvaro Blancarte, Armando Muñoz Garcia, and Benjamin Serrano. This historical component provides an overview of the development of the arts in Tijuana and a context for the contemporary component of the exhibition.
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