Acapulco, which lies along Mexico’s Pacific coast, is a city with many different faces. At the heart of historical trade routes linking the Americas, Asia and Europe, it is home to diverse populations – and a vibrant cultural scene.
However, in October 2023, Acapulco was hit by the category 5 Hurricane Otis, which cost at least 50 lives and caused unprecedented damage. Less than a year later, Hurricane John lashed the region, in another blow to a city still being rebuilt.
These two hurricanes not only devastated infrastructure, but they also threatened social cohesion. As populations were left destitute, they turned to looting and violence to survive.
The catastrophe was not only natural, but social. When the natural phenomenon hit, it triggered a social catastrophe that has to do with structural inequalities.
This is where UNESCO stepped in. With its Heritage Emergency Fund, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the Mexican Government, the Ministry of Culture of Guerrero and the Municipality of Acapulco, it engaged more than 30 artists and cultural leaders to organize over 200 community workshops, as a way of revitalizing cultural life and rebuilding communities.
As Ismael Polanco, a young participant in the workshop, explains, “To live better in Acapulco, we must feel more togetherness… and have much more empathy for others.” This is precisely what the UNESCO workshops aimed to achieve.
Poets, writers, and artists, such as Karhel García and Ari García González, organized activities to help young people develop empathy, identity, and creative expression.
Through literature, science fiction, and collective writing, hundreds of participants processed their experiences and reinforced social bonds. The initiative underscored the urgency of preserving Acapulco’s cultural heritage and strengthening community ties as essential pillars of recovery.
Art sensitizes us, and if this sensitization did not exist, I could not imagine recovery as something integral.
The recovery of Acapulco also involves the redevelopment of its emblematic sites. Many of these are connected with the city’s history as a shipping hub for the Manila Galleon – which was involved in the trafficking of enslaved people.
In particular, the Fort of San Diego, perched above the bay, was the point of departure for many ships, and today houses the Historical Museum of Acapulco. Given that many of the city’s people identify as Afro-descendant, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 helped to create a new area of the museum dedicated to African and Afro-descendant heritage. It has also supported the museum’s refurbishment to safeguard heritage ensembles, including the area dedicated to underwater cultural heritage.
Today, the Fort of San Diego and the Zócalo of Acapulco are one of five sites registered by Mexico as part of the UNESCO Network of Places of History and Memory linked to Enslavement and the Slave Trade.
