GLOBAL CULTURES AND CITIZENS
CHILANGO HAWKERS CURATED BY CLAUDIA ADEATH AND SERGIO MEDRANO
Hawkers refer to the people that work in the vast informal sector. They move constantly from place to place earning their living by selling products and services on the streets of Mexico City. 153
Street vendors are not a recent phenomenon in Mexico City. They are part of an old tradition of buying and selling goods directly on the streets. But the current image of the hawker, as a problematic phenomenon who ‘occupies’ the streets and disturbs with their chants in order to attract attention and enhance sales, is part of the demographic explosion in Mexico City in the twentieth century. Thus, Chilango Hawkers are no longer isolated people selling fruits, vegetables or
falluca (illegally imported merchandise), but organized social ‘performers’ who play an important part in the whole economy of the city and create jobs for thousands of hawkers, who are then able to make a living and support their families. They have become distributors of recycled, transformed and smuggled merchandise in a global economy.
CHILANGO HAWKERS IN COPENHAGEN Chilango Hawkers was an installation based on street traders; a reenactment staged in Copenhagen. Fourteen Mexican artists created works for the installation for Metropolis Biennale 2009, which included video, performances, electronic media and live broadcasting from the streets of Mexico City. The installations and performances were staged in the historical centre of Copenhagen on Nikolaj Plads and Kongens Nytorv.
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Nikolaj Plads • Metropolis 2009
Chilango refers to the inhabitants of Mexico City. Initially people from the province used the term pejoratively, however presently it is uttered with a certain pride among citizens of this megalopolis:“Soy chilango” (I am chilango).