Mexican Cultural Centre: Creation and international dialogue

Eduardo Estala Rojas

The Mexican Cultural Centre (MCC) is the first cultural virtual centre non-profit organisation registered in the United Kingdom. The MCC promotes and spreads Mexican culture in international collaboration with academic, artistic, and cultural projects.

Nottingham, United Kingdom. Photo: Eduardo Estala Rojas.

The MCC holds with a team of skilled Mexicans as Adriana E. Vera Pérez, Ana L. Pazos González, José L. Santos López and Paniel Reyes Cárdenas. All our activities and contents uphold a high quality standard. Thanks to our joint effort and work, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Minister of Foreign Relations of Mexico, addressed us a diplomatic letter dated the 30th of January 2014 to Nottingham, UK. In his letter, he aimed to provide us of: “an acknowledgment for achieving to bring together a plurality of expert collaborators, whose participation yields in the quality of the edited works by this centre at your charge.”

Creation and international dialogue

For Salvador Venegas-Andraca, a PhD in Physics and Computational Science by the University of Oxford, England, “Mexico is native producer of artistic and scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, the image of Mexico abroad does not pay justices to our creative capacity.” On the work of the MCC he utters: “In this context the work of the MCC is justified: the high quality of the contents and their prompt publication using modern communication tools such as Facebook and e-mail lists, for example, made the MCC a necessary reference in Mexico and Europe.”

Sofía Alejandra González De Aguinaga is a BA in Marketing and holds a Master degree in Tourism, Environment and Development by King’s College London; she received a grant from CONACyT, and thus asserts: “The MCC is performing an excellent work of cultural broadcasting of Mexico’s culture and Mexico’s talent. This is a unique webpage that managed to sum up efforts to communicate with great quality both in structure and contents, written articles by professional that span not only Mexico’s but other international specialists. The fact that the contents of the website range different topics within the Mexican cultural context as well as written from different viewpoints makes ever more interesting its reading and, thus, more accessible. In addition, the MCC knows how to mingle the experiencies of Mexicans in the United Kingdom as well as publicise different events, conferences and call for applications in the UK, serving as a culture binder. Finally, the partnership of the MCC with other publications and organisations provides a significant boost to the website as well as its contents in terms of a broader outcast. In addition, little by little, the outreach of the MCC website has grown considerably and steadily through the use of social networks such as Facebook and the weekly newsletters. Consequently, I am altogether sure that the MCC will keep growing and delighting us with its contents.”

Ana Laura Pazos González, is a writer and master on Humanities by Anahuac University, Mexico, she expressed: “In these later times, the capital of the United Kingdom —where all accents and languages are heed— makes us think in a modern Babel Tower. The voice of Mexico is read in a loud and clear voice and in the social networks of the MCC, its span not only engulfs the British Isles, but also in different countries where the Spanish tongue is understood. It is through the articles, poetry, essays and stories published by the MCC that the Mexicans abroad can feel themselves closer to home, whereas the foreigners have an opportunity of approaching the cultural Mexican landscape”. Pazos González is Director-general of the Mexican cultural magazine “Bicaalú” and author of the book: “Parvada blanca en la ciudad.”

Last but not least, Adriana Elizabeth Vera Pérez, who works in the Program of Latin-American History at the University of Chicago, U.S.A., points out: “The MCC is fulfilling its aims, namely to introduce, promote and broadcast the various activities related with art and culture in its different manifestations in our own country, Mexico, and beyond its borders, in different cities of other countries in a clear and accessible manner. Information of various events is broadcast across localities and a wide range of cultural topics is made known. Another outstanding achievement is the acquaintance that has begotten in introducing Mexico’s culture in England and other European countries, both directly as well as indirectly reaching universities, cultural, artistic, governmental and social organisations.”

Editor’s note: This article has been published in its original Spanish version in various international media.

Translated from Spanish by Dr. Paniel Reyes-Cárdenas.