Educar es redimir Escala 1:1

Box size: 300 x 220 mm
Contents: 150 photocopies + unfolding instructions + texts and credits
Design: Caniche Editorial
Limited edition of 400 copies

Educar es redimir Escala 1:1 explores the role of educational projects as tools used by the state to instill ideological values, focusing on the pedagogical mechanisms in Mexico during the early 20th century. It reflects on their influence on public spaces and the visual monumentality of the muralist movement. The title references a phrase inscribed on a sculpture located in front of the Centro Escolar Revolución, Mexico's first public school built for the co-education of boys and girls. Miguel Benjumea draws attention to this space, once home to the former Belén prison, now operating as both a school and a symbol of revolutionary ideals.

Inside the school is Aurora Reyes' mural Atentado a las maestras rurales (1936), depicting violence against female teachers. This project reconstructs the original sketch for the mural, fragmenting it into 150 photocopies that allow for the mural to be reproduced and unfolded at a 1:1 scale.

The book can only be "read" through its assembly, with the photocopies enabling the mural’s reproduction and spatial integration. It is a portable piece that invites the deconstruction of artistic strategies that serve as ideological tools, questioning the homogenizing logic of educational systems.

This box set includes texts by Valeria Montoya and Miguel Benjumea, instructions for unfolding, and 150 black-and-white photocopies (21 x 28.5 cm each). When assembled, the photocopies recreate the full-scale mural (2.10 m high by 4.27 m wide) across a 15 x 10 grid.

This work was conceived as part of the exhibition of the same name, inaugurated on March 10, 2023, at the Kursala exhibition hall of the University of Cádiz.

Miguel Benjumea (Cádiz, 1982) is an artist and researcher. He holds a PhD in Fine Arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. His work revisits historical and cartographic tensions in defining territories, repurposing existing cultural devices and formats to create new narratives. Through videos, photographs, urban frottages, and installations, Benjumea examines hegemonic narratives and the reinforcement of national identity and ideological dissemination. He has participated in residencies and exhibited his work in various art spaces across Spain and the Americas, including the Centre Pompidou Málaga, Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, and the Museo Ruso Collection.