I JOINT ICOMOS MEXICO & USA SYMPOSIUM
XLII ANNUAL ICOMOS-MEXICO SYMPOSIUM
I AMERICAS REGIONAL SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM
By Gilbert C. Correa, Binational Nominations Coordinator
This 5-day super conference held in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, from 17-21 November 2025 brought together for the first time all the 20 ICOMOS national committees in the Americas. It also marked the first joint symposium between ICOMOS-Mexico and ICOMOS-USA as well as the 42nd annual symposium of ICOMOS-Mexico. Presentations were based on the themes of cultural and natural heritage in regional development, transborder heritage in the Americas, migration in border contexts and ICOMOS in the Americas 60th anniversary.
DAY 1
Monday, 17 th November 2025
Virtual
10:00 AM – 06:45 PM Pacific Time
The first day featured 5 tracks with panelists from Mexico, United States, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina. The first track focused on cultural and natural heritage in regional development where panelists like María Gabriela Santibañez, President of ICOMOS-Argentina, Adriana Careaga, President of ICOMOS-Uruguay, María Encarnación Holgado Rojas, Associate of ICOMOS-Peru, and Martha Vera, Honorary Consul of Spain in El Paso, Texas, detailed the regional cooperation and addressing impacts in areas with world heritage sites such as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in Mexico and the USA, La Plata River in Argentina and Uruguay and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Cuzco, Peru.
The second track focused on transborder heritage in the Americas where panelists Katti Osorio Ugarte, President of ICOMOS Panama, and Emilia Raggi Lucio, Professor at the Autonomous University of Mexico, detailed the cultural transference in Panama and the non-prehispanism and Mayan revival in 20th-century Mexican and North American architecture.
The third track once again focused on cultural and natural heritage in regional development where panelists like Dr. David Gómez Manrique, Researcher at the UNESCO Regional Center for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of Latin America, and Kevin Ernesto Martínez Moreno, Professor at the Autonomous University of Baja California, discussed the Latin American intangible cultural heritage and the tradition and legacy of the Cucapá Tribe’s Kuri Kuri Festival.
The fourth track focused on migration across the border with panelist Ignacia Morales Reyes, Professor at the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla, detailed the intangible heritage and migration of the community of San Antonio Texcala in New York.
The fifth and final track focused yet again on cultural and natural heritage in regional development where panelists like Luís Fernando Armendáriz Ledezma, Scholar at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, Wendy Silva Beltrán, Researcher at INAH Centre in Jalisco, and Julianne Polanco, SHPO of California, discussed the binational architectural heritage of the former hippodrome and galgodrome in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the restoration of the Wixárika Culture’s communal head in Tuapurie, Jalisco, and the preservation projects and alliances with Native tribes in California.
DAY 2
Tuesday, 18 th November 2025
State Center for the Arts in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
10:00 AM – 07:00 PM Pacific Time
The second day featured panelists from both sides of the border like Douglas C. Comer, President of ICOMOS-USA, Donovan Rypkema, CEO of PlaceEconomics, and Juan Luís Isaza Londoño, President of ICOMOS Colombia, focusing on colonialism in the Americas, cultural heritage and development in historic centers and transboundary properties of the Americas inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Note: Inauguration of the conference featured representatives from the ICOMOS National Committees of Mexico, USA and Colombia as well as the Secretariat of Culture of Baja California and the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
DAY 3
Wednesday, 19 th November 2025
State Center for the Arts in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
10:00 AM – 07:00 PM Pacific Time
The third day featured panelists from across the continent like Leonardo Castriota Barci, Former President of ICOMOS Brasil and Vice President of the Americas, María de Guadalupe Zepeda Martínez, President of ICOMOS Mexico, and Laura Susana Zamudio Vega, Autonomous University of Baja California, focusing on the construction of national heritage, community approaches in the protection of cultural heritage and the investigation of industrial heritage in borders.
Note: Presentation by Dr. Ricardo Tena Núñez, Vice President of ICOMOS-Mexico, on urbanization and heritage.
DAY 4
Thursday, 20 th November 2025
State Center for the Arts in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
10:00 AM – 07:00 PM Pacific Time
The fourth day featured tours throughout Ensenada like the Regional Museum of Ensenada, Hotel Rivera and Keki Borough. The meeting of the Presidents of the ICOMOS Americas national committees was convened in a hybrid modality. A manifesto was presented and lines of collaboration were discussed to fortify and unite the Americas region. The evening concluded with a concert by local Mexican pianist Santos Cota.
Note: The ICOMOS Americas Presidents Meeting conducted via a hybrid modality. From left to right: 1) Juan Luis Isaza Londono, President of ICOMOS-Colombia; 2) Maria de Guadalupe Zepeda Martinez, President of ICOMOS-Mexico; 3) Dr. Ricardo Tena Núñez, Vice President of ICOMOS-Mexico and; 4) Olga Orive Bellinger, Former President of ICOMOS-Mexico (2009-2015).
DAY 5
Friday, 21 st November 2025
San Diego, California
10:00 AM – 07:00 PM Pacific Time
Note: Drs. Maria de Guadalupe Zepeda Martinez and Douglas C. Comer raising hands in solidarity to work jointly and binationally.
The fifth day featured tours throughout San Diego like the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, Marsten House and the Coronado Hotel. The evening concluded with a celebratory dinner at Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in Little Italy.
Works Cited
Photos credit: Gilbert C. Correa.