What began as a tianguis in the vicinity of the museum mutó to the famous cultural tianguis of the chopo.Nurphoto / Getty Images.
Ángeles Mastretta, the then director of the museum, in the company of Jorge Pantoja, cultural promoter, gave the space inaugurated. The surprise for them and the community was that the success of the tianguis was incredible, so the tianguis extended for two years inside the enclosure and people began to call it Tianguis del Chopo, to the degree that it was even more popular than the museum itself. Both were located on Enrique González Martínez street, in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, location where there is now the museum. The size of the tianguis was so large that it went out of the same enclosure, but in 1985, the delegate of Cuauhtémoc evicted the sellers, as it obstructed the public space. So from 85 to 87 the Tianguis toured several locations: a parking lot in the San Rafael neighborhood, in the Casco de Santo Tomás, in the parking lot of the Faculty of Architecture of Cu and in the Moorish Quiosco of Santa María la Ribera.
Buenavista, the official house of the Chopo Cultural Tianguis
Thus, after years of disputes, fights, evictions and problems among leaders, in 1987 The cultural tianguis of the chopo finally reached its official destination, the one in which it is still. Since then it is located on the sidewalk of what was the Buenavista train station and which is currently the José Vasconcelos library, in the Sol and Luna streets of the Buenavista neighborhood.
From that year, the Cultural Tianguis of the Chopo «Keep simply like.» The poppus– It has been the seedbed of artists and countercultural figures, as well as entrepreneurs. In the same way it became a space where young and adults live together thanks to music, mainly, as well as other artistic expressions. Even with this, the transformation of the tianguis has been gradual and clear, specifically in the objective of the place. They have always worried about offering a really cultural face and not being confused with a bazaar or a purely commercial tianguis, so there are spaces for artisans who sell their products, another area for culture punk and others that are defined by the musical and aesthetic, Puna for albums and more. In the same way it has areas dedicated to bands and groups, so that they are presented in front of the attendees, some of these groups are Café Tacvba, Caifanes, Zoé, among others equally famous. There are also poets and speakers who exhibit their pieces. Without neglecting the publications of the Cultural Tianguis del Chopo as Howl and Rock Codeximportant in the CDMX. Now, the radio was fundamental at the beginning of the tianguis, therefore, Chopo Radio It was for several years one of the stations to which young musicians and creatives were directed to expose their art. Similarly, the barter culture was an essential part of the space, because it was precisely what differentiates it from other tianguis, there are still places where you can exchange books, magazines and discs for others.
Today, The cultural tianguis of the chopo remains a space of culture That, as if it were not enough, it is next to the BasqueConcelos Library and very close to the University Museum of the Chopo, so the culture fills the streets of the Buenavista neighborhood and, fortunately, all are welcome in their corridors, because, unlike past decades, there is everything and for all: clothing, records, books, magazines, crafts, toys and a long etc. And also for all types of countercultures: Punks, reggaetonerosCholos, Pachucos and also, another long etcetera.
As Carlos Monsiváis would say, «the temple of the Mexican counterculture» is and will continue to be the most open space to culture, to freedom of expression and popular, but always seen from the hunger of knowledge and social understanding, FElicidades, Chopo!