Both the records of the Estridentista movement and his own diligent investigation in libraries in various parts of the world allowed Luis Mario Schneider (1931-1999) to gather the most complete archive ever assembled on the movement. These primary texts—which were not available in public libraries—were made available to researchers. The only original publication which was not accessible was the magazine Irradiador [Irradiator], published in 1923. These types of publications are quite useful in conducting research.
Etridentismo, an early Mexican avant-garde movement, arose at the end of 1921, at the same time as the Muralist movement. Its creator, and for some time its only member, was Manuel Maples Arce, a poet from Veracruz who openly rebelled against modernist poets and the pictorial academy. As evidenced by the group’s publications, the movement was related to Dadaism, Futurism, Ultraism and Creationism—in their European and Latin American strains. Estridentismo was a movement focused on agitation strategies through its deep connection to a mechanical aesthetics. The group promoted a new urban sensibility, wherein experiences amassed simultaneously, at the same pace as modern life itself. The very name of the movement refers to the hustle and bustle of the city, but also to its will to be acknowledged both for its embedded transgressions and excesses.
The Estridentista movement incorporated artists working in literature, music, painting, engraving, photography and sculpture; the group’s headquarters was the Café de Nadie in Mexico City and later in Xalapa (Veracruz), where its members became involved in an education revolution. The movement had a number of publications, including the magazine Ser [Being], Irradiador and Horizonte [Horizon].