Mexican Murals – Laboratory Work on the Cocoa

Walking around in the neighborhood of Tacubaya, I came across another huge mural. This one is located on the corner of Avenida Revolución and Martires de Tacubaya, right above a parking-lot of a hotel.

At first it struck me as a pretty bizarre image, of two human-like figures with widely distorted faces. I wasn’t sure if I actually liked it. I’m still not, but looking more carefully, I noticed some interesting features in the picture.

Biochemists at Research (presumably)

The character on the right seems to be a scientist of some sort, wearing a white lab coat. In one hand he’s holding a pipette or a syringe, with which he’s adding to, or extracting from the green contents of the test-tube in his other hand. Clearly, there is a visible reaction going on, judging from the green fumes rising out from the test-tube. What kind of experiment could this be, and for what purpose?

The person on the left could offer an explanation. In spite of her distorted face, she seems to be a young woman, with some pink flowers in her hair. In her hand she’s holding a branch with a fruit hanging from it. For anyone who’s seen a cocoa tree, there won’t be a doubt that this is the fruit chocolate is made from.

What's the Message?

So what is mural trying to tell us? What’s going on here? A biological (genetic?) manipulation of the cocoa? Maybe to offer an even greater yield of chocolate (which the world so desperately needs!)? Or maybe the objective is to alter the plant into lowering its high maintenance requirements. You may know that these trees are pretty picky in where they like to grow: It can’t be cold, obviously, but too hot won’t work either. For this reason, cocoa trees are commonly found in (sub)tropical regions, but high up in the cloud forest. By changing the genetic make-up of cocoa, could we extend the climatic conditions suitable for its production? Interesting factoid: Most of the money behind large-scale cocoa plantations is not the candy industry, but cosmetics, for its highly valued cocoa-butter. Chocolate, in fact, is almost like a waste product, sold for a marginal profit on the side.

Who's the Artist?

I’m not sure if these are the thoughts the artist was trying to convey with this intense wall painting. His (or her) signature is on the blue field in the top right-hand corner, though I tried looking it up without any success. McTaro? McTuro? McImro? Sorry, I have no clue! Though these distorted faces seem somewhat familiar. As if I had seen similar imagery somewhere before. As soon as I know more, I’ll make sure to write a follow-up post.