Álvaro Obregón opens “It Is the Shadow of Water,” an exhibition honoring poet Jaime Sabines

A new exhibition in Mexico City is bringing Jaime Sabines’s poetry into the gallery through the work of 85 artists. “It Is the Shadow of Water” opened through a collaboration between the Álvaro Obregón borough, the San Ángel Cultural Center and Casa Jaime Sabines.

The collective show approaches the Chiapas poet through the emotions that run through his writing: love, desire, melancholy, death, memory and ordinary life. Artists translate those themes into images, sculptures, photographs and other forms of visual expression.

Several works connect directly with titles associated with Sabines, including “The Lovers,” “Letters to Chepita,” “Something About the Death of Major Sabines,” “Tarumba” and “Adam and Eve.” The exhibition also includes work by artists who had a direct relationship with the poet, as well as photographs by people who portrayed him during his life, including Daisy Ascher, Eliane Cassorla, Rogelio Cuéllar, Eunice Chao, Gilberto Chen, Ulises Castellanos, Roberto Portillo and Maritza López.

The venue carries a particular importance for Álvaro Obregón. Casa Jaime Sabines stood closed for seven years before officials recovered and reopened it as part of Mayor Javier López Casarín’s strategy to return spaces for art, culture and community life to local residents.

The exhibition can be visited through December 2026, Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its closing event is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m.