Intercultural Park
BY VALERIA LEIVA / TRANSLATED BY SOPHIA OCAÑA
An urban park for the strengthening of cultures, the promotion of sports, the encouragement of arts, creative industries, and the dignification of historical memory. Following a deep reflection with artists, architects, and professionals regarding the different needs of the municipality, especially the lack of green areas and public spaces for intercultural encounters and dialogue. Named Intercultural Park, it aims to be an accessible space for the community—inclusive, diverse, public, and a future green lung for Quetzaltenango—that improves quality of life by offering ecosystem and cultural services. This vision of the current administration, led by Donald Urizar, president of the board, Berenice Citá as executive director, and Branly López as cultural director, has the potential to become a national model project, integrating art, culture, technology, science, and worldviews.
Historical Layers
The area housing the buildings that form the Intercultural Park once contained the pre-Hispanic hill “Chom Juyup” (Cerro Gordo), which held ceremonial sites of the Mayan worldview according to oral accounts.
The Los Altos Railway Station is a building constructed in the La Democracia neighborhood in zone three of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. An electric railway was made possible by the construction of the Santa María Hydroelectric Plant and a dam on the Samalá River. The railway route connected Quetzaltenango with San Felipe, Retalhuleu, covering a distance of 44 km. Construction of the Los Altos Railway Station began on September 25, 1924, and it was inaugurated on March 30, 1930. The project cost the Guatemalan government 8.5 million US dollars. For the inauguration, a marimba melody was composed, and the Guatemala Post Office issued three stamps featuring the Los Altos Railway. The railway project only operated for three years and was closed during Jorge Ubico’s government.
The building complex, originally constructed as the Los Altos Railway terminal, underwent its first transformation when the lobby was equipped with components and mechanisms from the “Los Altos” wheat mill, which operated for only four years and left some remnants in the building.
In 1945, it became the headquarters of Military Zone 17-15 and later the Manuel Lisandro Barillas Military Brigade. The Military Brigade was closed in 2004 by President Óscar Berger, following the 1996 Peace Accords. The architectural complex was under military control for almost sixty years. Military Zone 17-15 was a significant counterinsurgency bastion in Quetzaltenango, a center of torture and forced disappearances
Starting with Berger’s government, through Government Agreement 577-2007, the administration of the site was granted to the Quetzaltenango Intercultural and Sports Development Council Association. Through the Second Property Registry, the General Attorney’s Office, and the Government Notary, the association has maintained administration of the space since then, with a usufruct for fifty years until 2065. The Quetzaltenango Intercultural and Sports Development Council Association is a non-profit civil association, and the current administration of the space is autonomous and self-managed, meaning it does not receive municipal or government funding.
To position the cultural park within the city’s subjective landscape, the proposed brand identity focuses on preserving and refreshing the site’s existing image as a physical place, currently represented by its recognizable facade. However, the redesign aims to reflect not just a physical space, but a sense of place and a meaningful location where cultures, initiatives, and worldviews converge, while expressing the commitment of a professional, transparent, and avant-garde institution.
Therefore, the proposal retains the structure of the current logo but incorporates design elements to express a living space that brings together and energizes cultures. At the same time, it seeks a contemporary, clean, and clear design that adapts elegantly to CIDEQ’s future materials and initiatives.
Pilot Projects
Railway Museum. This project aims to restore the Los Altos Railway Museum in an immersive format, developed by Gallery 01320 and resident artist Bryan Castro with support from the Sona Encendida artists’ block.
Memory Museum
The building’s basement was opened for the first time on Friday, February 23, with the virtual exhibition “Inhabiting the Archives: A Journey through Memory, Truth, and Justice in Guatemala.” This is a step towards recovering historical memory and dignifying those who disappeared when this space was used as a torture center and military zone during Guatemala’s internal war years.
Community of Ajq’ijab’ of Xelajuj No’j
This community of Ajq’ijab’ seeks to reclaim the original ceremonial sites still present on the land, sacred to the Mayan K’iche’ ancestors. The Intercultural Park currently has the altars: Oxlajuj Noj, Oxlajuj Iq’, Oxlajuj Aq’ab’al, Oxlajuj Imox, Oxljuj Kan, Oxlajuj E, Oxlajuj Kyej, and Oxlajuj Tz’ikin.
Intercultural Library
The Intercultural Library, a reading space with over 2,000 books available, has been operating since September 2023. It features study areas and is currently directed by librarian Ana Boj, who conducts various activities to promote reading. The library is open from Monday to Sunday, 9 am to 7 pm.
Sona Encendida
Sona Encendida is a collective of independent cultural initiatives currently operating in the Intercultural Park as a common convergence space. This project brings together artists and cultural actors to support the cultural revitalization of the Intercultural Park. It is named to give new meaning to the word “zone,” imparting a dignified perspective and positioning the space as the focal point for contemporary art in Quetzaltenango.
The Sona Encendida community currently includes several permanent resident artists such as Guillermo Santillana, who leads the Armadillo Puppet Theater project; Valeria Leiva, who directs the contemporary photography gallery Fotomaíz and shares Gallery 01320, a space dedicated to contemporary art, graphic laboratory, printing studio, and design studio with artist Bryan Castro. Additionally, initiatives from itinerant artists such as Juan Esteban Calderón, who inaugurated the Hangar in the back with a performance for memory dignification, Alberto Arzú, a literary artist who presented his latest book as part of the Sona Encendida project, and Ricardo Huertas, a Mexican artist who has been a resident at the park collaborating on various space recovery initiatives, continue to support the recovery and activation projects of the Intercultural Park with different artists joining the initiative.
