culture
reactivating spaces:
Artists Bring New Life to the Historic Center of Tijuana reactivando espacios: Artistas traen vida nuevamente al centro histórico de Tijuana. Las Galerías cuentan con fotografía, arte contemporáneo, graffiti, y la escultura. En cualquier fin de semana, encontrará lecturas de poesía, talleres y clases en el grabado y la impresión, el hip hop y la pintura de graffiti en directo. Los adolescentes y 20-tantos pasan el rato aquí con más viejos, los artistas más establecidos y fotógrafos, dando al espacio un moderno, ambiente bohemio.
T
ucked away off Avenida Revolución in downtown Tijuana, Pasaje Rodriguez and Pasaje Gomez are easy to miss. But slow down and look, and you will see that local artists have brought these spaces to life. I first visited Pasaje Rodriguez almost two years ago. It was a dismal, rainy night in Tijuana. But my friends James and Jodi said, “Come on, let’s go check it out!” Not knowing Tijuana at all, I was thinking “What? Where is this place? Yeah, we are gonna get lost for sure.” After splashing through the rainy
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uniekest magazine nov 2012
streets in Jodi’s rugged SUV, we parked on Calle Carillo Puerto (3rd Street) and ran through the pouring rain across Avenida Revolución. Up ahead we saw the bright red neon lights of Caliente casino. Walking closer, the harsh florescent lights of a pharmacy revealed a mannequin dressed in a sexy nurse uniform, inviting passers by to buy “Viagra.” We ducked inside Pasaje Rodriguez, and suddenly the atmosphere was relaxed and chill. We were drawn to the lovely green wood frame doorway of a gallery called Baja Republika. Inside, a group of ten friends was gathered around a bar, drinking wine and sharing oysters
and shrimp ceviche. They eagerly invited us to join them, and soon I found myself singing along as one of the guests plucked his guitar and sang the nueva trova hit by Silvio Rodriguez “Ojalá.” I felt like I was home, among old friends, even though we had just met. And I think it’s this sense of family and community that gives Pasaje Rodriguez its charm and appeal. Pasaje Rodriguez and its sister Pasaje Gomez are two of many historic “callejon” or “arcade” style commercial centers built along Avenida Revolución during the second wave of commercial development of downtown Tijuana text and photographs by jill marie holslin