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In the thirties, in the Ángel Zimbrón neighborhood to the north of Mexico City, there was an impressive mill and flour factory. At that time gave an account of the modernity of the times. Over time, this place, like others in the metropolis, fell into neglect and oblivion. Until, as luck would have it, four years ago, Edgardo Slovik and his firm of architects, Living SLVK, decided to give it a chance to house and serve as a cornerstone to create the first Art District in Mexico City.
Although the initial project contemplated converting the space into warehouses, fortunately, urban art gradually appropriated the space where prevail to allow the place to express itself as a fully intervened site that is alive. Art is changing all the tim
How did art come about in the Exfábrica?
Artists began to arrive and paint freely. When we realized that would happen, we started getting even more involved and curating it professionally – without closing the door on artists. In the Ex-fábrica, you can find murals of the highest level mixed with conventional graffiti of not such a high level, and that is what the public wants, and the place tells us what to do.
As it became an art venue, underground parties began to take place, and the same thing happened. We believe if it is going to get done, we should do it well and safely. That evolved to have restaurants, concerts, galleries and art fairs, bazaars, and all sorts of shops. Coffee shops, tattoo parlors, cannabis shops, an arcade, and concert halls, plus whatever you ask of us. When we took it, this place was in ruins. Now it is a living and restored site, without losing its essence. And that all the time receiving art proposals.
In the skate area, people come to do stunts, and at the same time, you have a concert area that is almost always active. There has welcomed Molotov, Major Lazer, Laurent Garnier, and more. In addition, many videos get filmed here, and it is a venue with an unparalleled vocation for art.
How is the curatorship process of the Ex fábrica?
Usually, they approach us to ask for a space, we evaluate what they want to paint, and the team decides to green-light them. Or not. On the other hand, we do an annual open event for artists to go wild and do whatever they want. The most recent was a couple of weeks ago. There you see that everything is renewed, with some art of different levels. After that, we do curatorship and let the higher level remain, and the lower level pieces get intervened again.
Who visits the Ex fábrica?
Our public starts from the age of twenty to fifty. But we have artists of all ages, social levels, and several nationalities. Everyone comes to this place to live together and what it generates is impressive. As a firm of architects, we have specialized in taking forgotten and abandoned places, giving them life and putting them to work for the community, and making them productive.
That is very valuable since these are neglected structures. And instead of throwing everything away and making something new, we decided to bring them to life. That is more ecological, more romantic, and with many more benefits.
Discover new areas of the city
This area of the city was lost. And didn’t have any art or entertainment offer, yet it has been a resounding success. We receive more than 20 thousand visits each month. They began as visits from the north side of Mexico City, but we now have visitors from all over the world. Of course, the classic Japanese tourist with his camera has not been missing.
A venue is alive
Things are popping up all the time. For example, right now, we have an elevated truck that will be a restaurant, and more and more proposals are coming to us to intervene in unique places such as silos that require a lot of curation work, as it is a privileged point.
We don’t go at our pace. We go at the venue’s pace.
art with message
We aim not to have political, offensive messages that promote hate language. We want it to be a venue open to everyone, without any affiliation.
In addition, we have not only had parties and concerts, but members of civil society have also held conferences and other events to benefit women and many others.
Art arrives at the Ex-factory to find a new home, like the imposing Alebrije that, perched on a motley van, floods the room with color to welcome one of its areas.
How can you find out what happens in the ex-factory?
We have an Instagram account that is quite popular. That is where people contact us to paint, take photos, hold events, and more. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. There, you can find us at @Exfabricamx.
What other projects have you done?
We have built projects from old houses that we restored and added contemporary elements in the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood, Buenavista, Guerrero, and more. We work inspired by the Broken Glass theory. This way, we seek to help create safe spaces with less violence and cleaner areas. A clear example is this area. Exfábrica has motivated the residents to allow an artist to intervene in their homes. The locals are our main clients and ask us to send the artists. And the security of the area has increased. Now it is more cared for, illuminated, and has more traffic.
Unexpected corners
The Ex-factory also has filming studios that have appeared in films, series, commercials, and movies. In addition to many photo locations, we have a house, a street, and more. So far, we have 8,000 meters of construction, but we have not enabled everything. Although all the time we are working on new areas.
Among our plans, we want to make a hotel for people looking for something unique. Let each room have its own identity. We will set the table so that the artists come and give it their personality.
Our vision for the future is to expand the Art District of Mexico City from the Ex Fábrica to Parque Bicentenario.
In the Exfábrica, you can find places that have become Instagram classics to take a selfie, such as the bathrooms covered with stickers from different groups, artists, and more, and others that will be there for a while to give you the perfect setting for your photos.
For Edgardo Slovik, the magic of the Exfábrica lies in allowing the place to speak to them. It has been paramount to take care of safety. They have increased the lighting around the ex-factory, placed cameras, and are in constant contact with the delegation. So it is a venue where you can peacefully enjoy different artistic expressions.
Our vision for the future is to expand the Art District of Mexico City from the Ex Fábrica to Parque Bicentenario.
We recommend you plan the time for your visit and practice your best poses. There are so many corners and surprises waiting for you. It will take a couple of hours to go through it and capture the best moments for your networks. Visit continuously. We assure you that each visit awaits you with something different.
Get to know more, visit the link: Ex fábrica MX.
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