The World of Today and Tomorrow 1935

Editor: Okay, so we're looking at "The World of Today and Tomorrow," a fresco by Diego Rivera from 1935. It's enormous and bustling, packed with people and scenes. I immediately feel overwhelmed by its complexity. How should one even begin to approach a piece like this? Curator: Ah, yes, Rivera, always grand, always a story unfolding. It’s less a painting, and more a sprawling novel painted onto the walls of the Palacio Nacional. What I see is Rivera taking a real risk in making visible the class struggles of his time, but also creating, like all novelists do, multiple perspectives. Look closely, and tell me: Who do you notice? Where do your eyes linger? Editor: I'm drawn to the figures who seem trapped in these… conveyor belts, or almost like giant machines, being processed or observed. It feels dehumanizing. And then contrasting them there’s chaos down below! What's happening there? Curator: That's it, the conveyor belts filled with elite, contrasting sharply with the workers and protesters. Notice how he places historical figures there too, a subtle jab connecting the present power structure with the past? "Huelta" reads on a banner...a workers strike. So, it's about class conflict, capitalism, revolution. How Rivera packs it all in – quite brilliantly! And there’s the stairs – how we are guided physically as well. What might we make of that, do you think? Editor: I see what you mean – even our own bodies become a part of viewing and "climbing" the narrative he creates. All those intertwined figures…it's a challenge to untangle! But it feels intensely relevant. Curator: Indeed! It speaks, I think, about the continued struggle, and the importance of viewing both sides, almost, in equal measure… the powerful, the powerless and ourselves. Quite the invitation, isn't it? Editor: It is! Definitely a new angle for me on how art can reflect our world’s tensions. Thanks.