Ajijic's murals Part 12 of 12: Murals of the Present and Past

 

A woman surrounded by animals gives a shove to a mult-colored VW.  This mural can be found on Calle Ocampo near its northwest corner with Calle Colon. There is no house number, but a sign saying El Corozonito (The Little Heart) hangs at the front door. There is a lot going on in this mural. A fanciful bird flies just in front of the woman's face and in front of the bird, two Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes) hang down. Behind her head, a lizard-like creature stands. On the right, a tall thin monkey with a long curled tail gestures with its right arm. At the bottom right, a jaguar with an arched back glowers from the corner. 

This posting finishes my series on the murals of Ajijic. In this one, I will include art works that are randomly scattered around the pueblo, as well as some that no longer exist. Other murals seen here were replaced by newer ones, including some I have previously shown. This twelve-part series has drawn many favorable comments and I have enjoyed preparing and presenting it. Thanks to the many people who have responded! There was no date or signature on the mural above.

Murals of Calle Ocampo/Constitución

A group of nude women dances in the courtyard of the house at #12 Calle Ocampo. The figures dance wildly amid pouring rain. The midsections of many of them are globes, perhaps suggesting that the human world begins in a female womb. The house is on the south side of the street, a few doors west of the corner with Calle Colon. This photo was sent to me by an old friend who used to own the house and always loved the mural. Since it is a private home, permission would have to be asked to view it. I could find no signature or date.

The insouciant expression of this porker caught my attention. The pig is surrounded on three sides by large blue crystals and wears a necklace with a pendant. Above the pig's head, hummingbirds feed on what appears to be grape vines. The mural is located on the front of a art gallery at #16 Constitución on the south side of the street. This is the same street as Ocampo, but it picks up a new name east of the intersection with Calle Colon. The mural is fun but its meaning is obscure. There was no signature or date.

Vanished murals of Artist's Alley and Calle Castellanos

The assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta. This and the next two murals once appeared on the south wall of Artist's Alley, the pedestrian pathway that leads from Calle Castellanos to Ajijic Plaza. They have since been covered over by murals featured in Part 3 of this series. Colosio was the 1994 presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PRI governed the nation from its founding in 1929 to 2000. Colosio was campaigning in Tijuana when he was shot on March 23, 1994. In the scene above, he is about to be assassinated with a pistol aimed by a man standing in the shadows. 

Mario Aburto Martinez, the purported assassin, was arrested immediately, confessed, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The country was immediately plunged into a political crisis. The PRI replaced Colosio with Ernesto Zedillo, who went on to win the 1994 presidential election. Almost immediately after the assassination, rumors began circulating that the killing was the result of an internal battle within the PRI. Colosio was campaigning as a reformer and his election might have led to widespread changes that powerful interests viewed as threatening. 

Colosio lies at the feet of a sinister-looking group as a dog snarls at his corpse. Seated around the table from left to right are Carlos Salinas de Gotari, two unidentified men, and a Catholic cardinal. Salinas was President of Mexico when Colosio was assassinated. With their rather casual stance and expressions, the artist appears to be suggesting that the men were not unhappy with Colosio's demise. The unstated suggestion is that they may have been behind it, as many in Mexico have believed ever since. However, only the lone gunman was prosecuted in 1994. Then, thirty years later, came a bombshell announcement.

On November 8, 2025, a second person was arrested. Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega was an intelligence officer who had been sent to Tijuana to "monitor" the Colosio rally. He had been arrested at the scene because he had Colosio's blood on his clothes. Also, gunpowder residue was found on his hands. His intelligence boss arranged for his quick release and removal from Tijuana. Aburto, who confessed to the assassination, claims that is was the result of torture and threats to his family. In July, 2026, an appeals court ordered Sánchez Ortega's release because the statute of limitations for the murder had expired.

The third part of the mural shows workers breaking their chains and rising up.  This part of the mural was also located in Artist's Alley, next to the assassination panels. It is similar to other Mexican murals with political themes that I have photographed. Mexico's Revolution began in 1910, about seven years before the Russian Revolution. It was a time of radical change in various parts of the world and the plight of the working classes was highlighted in this kind of art. Great Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros all had political themes similar to this one.

Mural of a seated Maya noble painting the head of a statue. At his feet is a smaller figure with the face of a toothy lizard. The lizard-person also works on a painting. This appears to be based on images from ancient Maya codices and murals. Seated and cross-legged figures are  typical in Maya art and those ancient scenes are usually surrounded by hieroglyphs as this one is. At one time, this and the mural that follows both appeared on Calle Castellanos near its corner with Calle Guadalupe Victorio. In recent years, other murals have supplanted them.

A jaguar speaks while holding an object in its paw. This mural also closely imitates ancient Maya art. The symbols emerging from the big cat's mouth are how Maya artists once indicated speech. Night-hunting jaguars were revered in pre-hispanic times because they were believed to move freely between the worlds of the living and the dead. Since they are powerful hunters, their image was adopted by warriors and royalty, who often dressed in jaguar pelts. The four-petal flowers on the jaguar's body are symbols of the Four Cardinal Directions. Each holy direction has its own color and is represented by its own god.

Murals on the Malecon

A blue nude enjoys the sun's rays.  She is surrounded by the waving leaves of what appear to be aquatic plants. This and the next mural can both be found at the skateboard park on the Ajijic Malecon along Lago de Chapala. A malecon is an esplanade along a body of water like a lake, river, seashore. The skateboard park was designated as an area where graffiti artists could spraypaint to their hearts' delight. They seem to have taken full advantage of the opportunity, since there are numerous other art works in this area. These particular images may have been replaced by others since I took this photo.

Two more nudes luxuriate among the vegetation. Given that this skateboard ramp sees a lot of use, I would not be surprised if this mural has been repainted or replaced since I took these shots. In photographing Mexico's street art, I have noticed that nudity and explicit violence are often included. Sometimes these subjects appear at sites that would seem very unusual to many people in the United States. Local sites include the front walls of elementary schools, as well as skateboard parks like this one. Mexicans don't seem to have the same hang-ups about these subjects as do many folks who live north of the border.

The Carretera Murals

Stampeding carousel horses on Ajijic's Carretera. Mexicans seem to love carousels and particularly carousel horses. I have encountered paintings and carvings of such horses in numerous places other than carousels. Often, they can be found hanging on the walls of restaurants, businesses, or homes. Just another of Mexico's charming quirks, I guess. This is one panel of a lengthy mural along the bike path on the north side of the Carretera near its intersection with Calle Juan Alvarez. The Carretera is the single asphalt-paved road in Ajijic. All the rest in the pueblo are paved with cobblestones. 

Murals of Colonia San Sebastian

This mural is a work in progress. Each January 20, the people of the Barrio de San Sebasian throw a big party to honor the martyrdom of the saint for which the barrio is  (neighborhood) is named. The parade at the Fiesta de San Sebastian begins and ends at the corner of Calle Castellanos and Calle Emiliano Zapata, where the mural is located.

In the mural, San Sebastian is shown on the left, fastened to a tree and punctured by multiple arrows. There is also a whole lot more going on, as is usual with Ajijic's murals. In this and the next three photos, you will find not only the martyrdom, but a group of Sayacos (who represent a different tradition), the sun and moon duality (another, even more ancient ancient tradition), and the images of some of the real people who live in the barrio.  

Sayacos join the parade. Two of them stand at the right end while others are partly concealed behind the men carrying trays of food. The Sayaco tradition is unique to the pueblo of Ajijic and can be traced back to pre-hispanic legends. Their name comes from the Nahuatl word xayactl, which means "mask". The female figures (Sayacas) are actually men in dresses using inflated balloons to imitate female breasts. Sayacos are associated with the Carnaval season, which begins on January 6 and ends on February 10. This probably explains why they appear in this mural.

This section of the mural shows the sun and moon as well as men bearing trays of food.

The juxtaposition of the two celestial bodies harks back to the ancient pre-hispanic concept of duality. The ancient people believed that everything has its opposite: day (the sun) vs night (the moon), life vs death, good vs evil, etc. Nothing can be completely understood in the absence of its opposite. Ometeotl ("Dual God") was the pre-eminent god and contained both male and female aspects. 

Only three of the ten marching men who carry the food platters have human faces. One of them, wearing a blue hat, can be seen above. The three faces are images of real people who live in the barrio. When I took the shot, the figures with blank faces had not yet been filled in by the artist. If you visit this mural, they may all be complete by now.

An elderly couple stands at the left end of the mural. Between them and San Sebastian is an horno (oven). Igloo-shaped hornos are the traditional Mexican way to bake bread, cookies, and other tasty items. When I saw this couple and their oven, I immediately recognized them. Their home is right around the corner on Emiliano Zapata. and the firewood-heated horno is in their back room. In years past, I sometimes stopped by their little bakery to buy a loaf of their scrumptious fresh bread. As you can see, the artist had also not completed this part of the mural when I photographed it.

Part 12 is the last of my series on Ajijic's murals. I hope you have enjoyed this one, as well as the rest of the series. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim