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Saturday, June 9, 2012

A story of a factory turned into an art school. « Fred Klonsky

A story of a factory turned into an art school. « Fred Klonsky:


A story of a factory turned into an art school.


We are off for a few days in Oaxaca City, Mexico. It is a beautiful colonial city in a state that shares the name.


Oaxaca is the birthplace of Benito Juarez. He was the first and last indigenous president of Mexico.
Today we met Juan.
He works as a guard at the Institute of Arts in San Augustin Etla, about 35 minutes north of Oaxaca City.
The Institute is an art school founded by the famous Mexican artist, Francisco Toledo.
It is housed in a former textile factory, built in the 1890s.
The factory went bankrupt in the 80s. A workers cooperative was then attempted but failed.
And in the 90s the Institute of Art came, rehabilitated and reclaimed