Santiago Arau | La ciudad que no ha dejado de jugar

As part of the public program for the exhibition La ciudad que no ha dejado de jugar, photographer Santiago Arau will give a talk at the Conferencia Interamericana de Seguridad Social, the venue hosting the show.

The conversation, moderated by Alejandra de la Mora, will offer an up-close look at Santiago Arau's work and the place his photographs occupy within La ciudad que no ha dejado de jugar. His images engage with one of the exhibition's core ideas: soccer in Mexico City is not limited to stadiums or major sporting events—it is also built every day in shared spaces, adapted and appropriated by those who inhabit them. From an aerial perspective, Arau captures this widespread presence of the game throughout the city and reveals how a pitch can appear between houses, on a hillside, in an urban clearing, or in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood.

The selection brings together photographs taken over the past five years in various parts of the capital and the metropolitan area. Some show pitches with grass and professional markings; others feature dirt, concrete, or improvised surfaces where just a few lines, goalposts, or minimal markers are enough to activate the game. Together, the images allow us to see the city from a different scale—one in which soccer is recognized as daily practice, a form of gathering, and part of urban memory.

Among the pieces included are Santa Fe (2021), Estadio Azul Crema (2025), Camino a la cancha (2025), Campo de fútbol (2025), Cancha en el cráter del volcán Teoca (2023), El Maracaná de Tepito (2025) and an image of the opening of Estadio Banorte, taken on March 28, 2026. These photographs cross contemporary art, urban landscape, and soccer culture to show a city that, before the first match of the tournament, is already playing and recognizes soccer as part of its daily life.

At the end of the talk, 5 photography kits by Santiago Arau will be raffled off among attendees. Admission is free.

La ciudad que no ha dejado de jugar recovers the urban, family, and affective memory of four World Cups that have marked the football history of the capital: the FIFA World Cups™ of 1970, 1986, and 2026, as well as the 1971 Women's World Championship.

— Cultura Pública