THE COW PARADE - in english

Every year Guadalajara welcomes me with an interesting public art display. This year it was the turn for dozens cows all over the city. Well, not real cows, fibreglass ones, our very own edition of the famous international cow parade. My 3 favourite ones:

- Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian cow. Located behind the Cathedral, and designed, not by Leonardo, but by one of my mother’s friend artist, this fibreglass and steel sculpture paraphrased Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, but with a cow instead, it’s eight limbs reaching out for the perimeter of the circle enclosed by a squared frame. Simply inspired.

- Muu-nerva. By some accounts, the real symbol of our city, the sculpture of greek goddess Athena aka Minerva. She represents the wisdom of the city, which supposedly is the cultural capital of the country. Her proud figure, holding a shield is know to everyone in Guadalajara(although because of her proportions and her shield is better know to the locals as “the fat lady with the frying pan”). Now there is a second Minerva. Well, this is a Muu-nerva. A fibreglass cow in the same position and with the same weapons as Minerva.

- Matute Remus was a well known engineer, teacher and politician from the 50's. His most famous achievement (although by far, not the best), was to shift a large historical building a few metres towards the north, so an avenue could be built. He was so confident about his work that the day the building moved, his family was on the upper floor, waving to the crowd from the window. There is a sculpture of him on that street, right outside the building, pushing it with both arms. Well, now there are two sculptures. Now there is a cow helping him to push.

Guadalajara. December 10 2006.