An altercation between restaurateurs and young people painting a wall on Andador Matamoros, located behind the Rosalío Solano Cinema Theater, reignited the debate about the limits of artistic expression and coexistence in the public space of Querétaro’s Historic Center.
A video posted on the social media of Hostel El Petate (@elpetatehostel), a business located on Andador Matamoros, shows a group of people verbally exchanging blows, leading to physical contact.
According to the footage, one of the young people involved hits a restaurateur after an argument related to the intensive use of spray paint. The business owners claim that the smell of the spray paint bothers their customers and that many don’t share the type of expressions they consider alien to the city’s main square.
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Daniela Salgado, head of the municipality’s Culture Secretariat, traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, to sign the collaboration agreement for the tenth edition.
For over a year, the Andador Matamoros has been occupied by artistic collectives promoting this space as an open forum for social messages, feminist slogans, support for indigenous communities, urban poetry, and works made using techniques such as stenciling. The Instagram account @andador_matamoros has been a means of dissemination, inviting citizens to take ownership of the space through art.
Just a month ago, the municipality’s Secretary of Culture, Daniela Salgado, publicly declared that the graffiti would not be erased from the walkway. She assured that this spot in the Historic Center would be preserved as a site of free artistic expression, recognizing its value to the urban community.
However, the recent confrontation has highlighted the tension between those who defend the space as a zone for urban art and those who consider it a commercial space that should maintain certain aesthetic and environmental conditions. The lack of clear guidelines has deepened the division between the two positions.
To date, no municipal authority has issued an official statement on what happened, nor has it been reported whether there will be sanctions or actions to mediate the conflict. The lack of response has generated criticism from both merchants and artistic collectives, who are calling for greater clarity regarding the use of the space.
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Although the majority of their lineup was made up of Querétaro artists, members of the Menchaca artistic community invited the municipality to consider them for future editions.
The incident reopens the debate on how to reconcile freedom of artistic expression with economic activities in tourist areas, as well as the need to build agreements between the different actors who share the urban space.
Source: oem
