Dialogue of experiences

The prospective vision of ARA magazine

Abstract

The 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council coincides with another related event which links the conciliar reception to both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This refers to the publication of a monographic number dedicated to Mexico and that was edited in October 1965 by the Spanish magazine ARA: Arte Religioso Actual (Current Religious Art). A double number (issues 6 and 7 of the ARA collection) with a remarkable spirit, which was the result of an intense journey made by the magazine’s director —the Dominican friar José Manuel de Aguilar— by Mexico and Central American countries during that same summer, in order to exchange experiences and consulting services in the field of sacred art.
In addition to the fact that this monograph provided an unpublished vision of this topic, it also compiled a sample of works and signatures that offered an almost canonical view of the Mexican religious art and architecture at that moment.