Mother Serpent: A Mural Uniting Mexico and the UK in San Simón Ticumac, Mexico
Art, community and dissidence converge at Distrito de Arte Indeleble, a creative laboratory revitalising the social fabric of the indigenous neighbourhood of San Simón through mosaic and ‘esgrafiado’ murals, ceramics and dialogue.
In the heart of San Simón Ticumac, one of Mexico City’s oldest indigenous neighbourhoods, art, community, and rebellion intertwine in Madre Serpiente (Mother Serpent), a monumental new mural born from international collaboration and local spirit.
Created by artists Carrie Reichardt (UK), Said Dokins (Mexico), Tamara Froud (UK), Kim Wozniak (USA), Jesús Valenzuela, Óscar Pérez Jiménez, and Abraham Alonso, with over twenty community members, the mural is part of the Encuentro de Muralismo Distrito de Arte Indeleble. Installed at Secondary School No. 80 “Dr Martin Luther King”, it transforms public space into a collective artwork celebrating identity, memory, and resistance.
Inspired by Cihuacóatl, the woman serpent of Aztec mythology and symbol of female power, the piece fuses Reichardt’s punk mosaic aesthetic with Dokins’ calligraphic street language. The result is a brilliant explosion of ceramics, text, and local imagery, from skulls and flowers to insurgent hearts and sacred vulvas, narrating the intertwined stories of motherhood, rebellion, and creation.
Workshops held at the San Simón kiosk brought residents, students, and visiting artists together to cut, place, and grout each tile by hand. “’Beyond the mural itself, it’s about how a community recognises itself through collective creation'” explains Said Dokins.
Organised by Distrito de Arte Indeleble under Daniel Silva and Joui Turandot (Casa Womb), the project also included talks and seminars on urban art and cultural rights, linking grassroots creativity to wider conversations on territory and memory.
Mother Serpent stands as a living symbol of solidarity, where punk meets pre-Hispanic mythology, and where art becomes both protest and connection, weaving Mexico and the UK together in ceramic and spirit.
The mural documents. Every shard of tile, every etched symbol, every layer of enamel tells a story: of the indigenous women of San Simón, of the fusion between the ancient and the contemporary, of art’s enduring role as mediator between protest and beauty.
Here, Mexico meets the UK through the shared language of making.
Madre Serpiente 2025
Created by Carrie Reichardt, Said Dokins, Tamara Froud, Kim Wozniak, Jesús Valenzuela, Óscar Pérez Jiménez, and Abraham Alonso
Location: Secondary School No. 80 “Dr Martin Luther King”, Eleuterio Méndez 53, San Simón Ticumac, Benito Juárez, Mexico City
Produced by: Distrito de Arte Indeleble
Directed by: Daniel Silva and Joui Turandot (Casa Womb)