Getting to the Jumex Collection?

July 29, 2009 10:14 AM

Have any Mexico City mefites or recent art-loving travelers there gone to visit the Jumex Collection? I know that it is open to the public by appointment, but I have a couple of specific questions.

First off, I don't want to be the "impatient gringa" but I emailed them last Friday and haven't yet received a response. It's not a huge deal, I'm not going to be there for 2 weeks and can always try calling when I'm there, but is it customary for them to take awhile to get back to people or should I assume that my email got lost in the ether and resend?

Second, does anyone know exactly when the current exhibition La Nada y El Ser is closing? I thought that it was closing late July - early August, but their latest post on Facebook now states the end of August (but no specific date). This would be great as I understand that you can only view exhibitions (there is no permanent collection constantly on display as with a museum) and when they are between exhibitions the only thing open is the reading room.

Finally has anyone gone there via public transportation - taking the metro to Indios Verdes and catching the rte 30 bus towards San Cristobal? Is this doable or would it be better to hire a driver through my B&B (my funds are not unlimited, but I could probably afford this one splurge)?

In case it is relevant, I am a middle-aged female, and this is my 7th trip to Mexico, D.F. but my first in 8 years. I am aware of safety issues (i.e. never just hail a cab off of the street) but have never had any problems just approaching D.F. as I would any other large city. I'm traveling with a friend, but will probably be going to Jumex on my own. My Spanish at this point is pretty rusty and I was only ever got to the intermediate level, but I think that it is sufficient enough to get around.

posted by kaybdc to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

I haven't been there yet, but I can make the appointment for you by phone. Mefimail me.

Regarding transportation, you could get closer in public transportation and then take a radio taxi, it would be safer and not as expensive as going the whole way on taxi.
posted by clearlydemon at 10:33 AM on July 29

My sister's a curator and knows the right people there. She sent me this:

-------------------------- Forwarded message ----------------------------
From: Difusión Fundación Jumex
Date: 2009/7/27
Subject: La nada y el ser

Los invitamos a visitar la séptima interpretación de La Colección Jumex: La nada y el ser
Lunes a viernes de 10:00 a 17:00 horas, acceso gratuito, previo registro al 57 75 81 88 / [e-mail]
Hasta finales de agosto de 2009
-------------------------- Forwarded message ----------------------------

I can call and make your reservation, but I'd need your last name and the date you want to visit.

As to transportation, I would hire a car and driver for that. It'll cost you ~15 USD and will make much better use of your time.

I'd be glad to help. MeFi mail me.
posted by Cobalt at 10:57 AM on July 29

Even with preview still the grammatical/spelling error "I was only ever got to" arghhh.

Also clearlydemon, thanks so much for the offer. I am going to hold off for now as in addition to emailing Jumex myself for some general info, I've also been in contact with the owner of the B&B where I'm staying and he was supposed to specifically make the appointment for me. I haven't heard back from him either. He may well have an appointment for me and is waiting until I get there to inform me of the specific date/time. I don't arrive until late on August 11th and was hoping to go to Jumex on August 12 or 13th. If I haven't heard from either the B&B owner or Jumex by next week, I might take you up on your very kind offer.
posted by kaybdc at 11:00 AM on July 29

A belated thanks to clearlydemon and cobalt for all their help.

For future reference to any future mefites who find themselves in Mexico City and want to visit the Jumex Collection, their website is back up (under Fundacion Jumex - see link) and it does include phone and email contact info. Or one of the kind and helpful Mexico City mefites will probably make an appointment for you if you ask! Also they don't tell you this when you make an appointment, but bring a photo ID. The security guard at the Jumex complex gates asked to see ours, although two of our party didn't have any and we got in with any problem, it would probably just be easier if you had them.

I would definitely recommend taking a private car or taxi arranged by a trusted source or your hotel as it is quite a ways out of the city and the Indios Verdes Metro stop only gets you about halfway there (although as clearlydemon suggested it might be worth trying to get a taxi from there to cut costs). All in all the private taxi that we took ended up costing about $40 USD, and that was for 3 hours (ride there and back, and 1+ hour waiting for us as we viewed the collection). It was well worth it. Or you could wait until they move the collection to a new purpose built gallery/museum in Mexico City in 2011.
posted by kaybdc at 3:29 PM on August 28