I met Héctor Romero-Lecanda in 2008 on my first day working at Estación Palabra in Nuevo Laredo, a day that coincided with his birthday. I learned that day how much he loves his city and the borderlands.
I remember that time as a golden age for the arts in Nuevo Laredo – a vibrant, arts community driven by creativity, support, and camaraderie. At that time Romero-Lecanda already had a lengthy trajectory in arts and culture, having founded the nonprofit Cultura Fronteriza A.C. in 1989. From 2008 to 2010 he served as Director de Arte y Cultura in Nuevo Laredo, leading the conceptual design and direction of key cultural spaces like Museo Reyes Meza and Centro Regional de Promoción de la Literatura.
After his work at the Instituto Tamaulipeco para la Cultura y las Artes (ITCA), he began collaborating with Mexico’s highest cultural institution, serving as Deputy Director of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA) in Mexico City.
Romero-Lecanda returned to his beloved ITCA, where he now leads and drives programs that foster community engagement. He has hosted the Stereo 91 radio show, Espacio Alternativo, for the last 15 years, alongside cultural promoter, gallerist, and curator Rosa del Carmen Contreras.
He shares his thoughts here on what makes art and cultural programs sustainable.
Seyde García (SG): In the 1980s and 90s there was an exciting art community in Nuevo Laredo. You founded Cultura Fronteriza AC in 1989. There was the craft magazine Cariátides, directed by Paloma Bello. Most of the efforts that favored art and culture then originated in civic and non-governmental initiatives. Can you tell me about the state of the arts at that time?
Héctor Romero-Lecanda (HRL): At that time, important cultural activities were generated by civic society rather than by public institutions. These cultural groups were in charge of the activities, and the municipal government, through the Casa de la Cultura was dedicated to artistic training. There were some groups such as Academia de Arte y Literatura or El Taller de Arte Renacimiento dedicated to holding poetry conferences or meetings. It was the time when the painters’ collectives began. These groups nurtured the cultural activity in the Casa de la Cultura.
Cultura Fronteriza was born in 1989 to foster cultural collaboration between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, and to preserve the culture, architecture, and heritage of the border region. Festivals and meetings were held between the two cities in joint projects that included artists from both cities and awards for heritage preservation.
Cultura Fronteriza fostered many relationships between artists, promoters, and historians from both Laredos. At that time the Festival Internacional de la Raza began, a project of the Mexican government through the Colegio de la Frontera Norte and CONACULTA based in Tijuana and Juárez. The association coordinated the Festival at headquarters in Nuevo Laredo and encouraged it to be held in other cities on the border. Finally it was called the Festival de la Frontera, which promoted the culture of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. That festival is sorely needed!
SG: What were the main challenges and successes during your tenure as Director de Arte y Cultura in Nuevo Laredo in the period 2008-2010?
HRL: The main challenge was to stop seeing culture as an accessory and the department as the organizer of events. The challenge was to build cultural policies, create processes for better opportunities for artistic development, foster the professionalization of creators, and to restructure art spaces and give them purpose.
Museo Reyes Meza, Estación Palabra, Centro Regional de Promoción de Literatura, and Maquila Creativa – a space for arts and crafts – were established. There was investment in the training of cultural promoters and creating the first community cultural collective in Tamaulipas.
SG: What is the responsibility of government in matters of art and culture?
HRL: It is the government’s obligation to guarantee the human right to culture. That we can all participate freely in cultural life and the arts, that is their greatest responsibility. That is why the government (federal, state and municipal) has to invest in artistic training and professionalization by providing fellowships for opportunities for cultural development and the preservation of history, and developing cultural and artistic practices as tools to build community and citizenship. This task is not exclusive to government. It is also the work of universities, companies through social responsibility programs, and society itself. There is a big difference between promoting economic stimulus for the arts, as in the United States, and cultural development as a public policy as it is in Mexico.
SG: What would be the ideal state of the arts in Los Dos Laredos?
HRL: Nuevo Laredo has a great cultural infrastructure, and Laredo encourages artistic training and professionalization. They would have to complement each other to make collaborative agreements and exchanges, to create mechanisms so that artists, creators, and promoters from Laredo have confidence in crossing into Nuevo Laredo.
SG: As artists, cultural promoters, civic associations, and government entities, how do we move toward that ideal state?
HRL: I think about building processes, not events – processes that allow sustainable development and promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences to work collectively. We need to train and continue working so that culture continues to be the axis of transformation.
