Creativity Challenged to Rescue Signs From Street Stalls in Mexico City

Aug. 09, 2022

The signs not only advertise the offer of thousands of street stalls but also dress the streets of Mexico with identity and ingenuity. This iconic and diverse expression of popular art is a cultural heritage and therefore its defence is present.

At the end of May, the mayor of Cuauhtemoc, one of Mexico City's most iconic municipalities, promoted a new regulation that ordered the removal of all signs and instead painted the stalls white and grey, applying the logo and slogan of the current administration.

The indignation on the part of citizens was not long in coming and was expressed with the hashtag #ConlosRotulosNo. The controversial initiative was also echoed at an international level since it is an attack on the graphic and cultural memory.

Faced with this situation, Grey Mexico together with TimeOut, the guide to discover the city, decided to come out in support of the stallholders and bring back their identity with stick-on signs that challenge this new regulation, which states that signs can no longer be painted, but nowhere does it say that they cannot be pasted.

Creativity to the rescue of Chilango signs.

The idea consisted in working hand in hand with classic master sign makers, who were also economically affected by the mayor's decision, to re-create the iconic graphics of the stalls that had been removed, but this time on large magnets that can be placed and removed every day on the facades of the stalls and given free of charge to the juice, cake, taco or newspaper vendors.

In this way the signs were seen again in the streets, supporting the economy of the stalls and generating a great acceptance among the citizens rescuing these icons of Mexican popular art.

History, tradition, vibrant colours and Mexican identity merged with creativity to defend the valuable and original memory of the neighbourhoods, the art that is part of the urban landscape and the idiosyncrasy of the country.