The Instituto Cultural de Baja California (ICBC) sits across the river channel from Plaza Rio shopping mall, next door to the Juárez public library, in the gardens south of the new City Hall aka Palacio Municipal. (See walking routes from downtown or direct from the border.) Not as large a complex as the nearby CECUT across the river, ICBC nevertheless is an important promoter of culture and art, providing a pair of good spaces for exposition: (1) an auditorium where theater, dance, music, film/video screenings, and conferences are hosted; and (2) a gallery space where exhibitions are regularly presented by important local and regional artists.

A small cafe sits in the corner of the building which serves your usual varieties of coffee beverages and snacks. The gardens outside are a pleasant, safe place to picnic and walk, and along with the nearby Palacio plaza, are the site of many public festivals, including outdoor concerts and the Independence Night "grito de libertad" (shout of liberty) on September 15th each year.

Any bus going to "Palacio" will pass by (make sure you get off at the Palacio), and all taxi drivers know where that is ("Pah-LAH-see-oh"). Many people park at the shopping mall and walk over the convenient pedestrian bridge across the river channel. This would allow you to combine shopping or a movie with the gallery visit. This part of town is reasonably safe, but don't throw your wallet around. Get your car out of the mall lot before midnight (when the last movie plex lets out).

La Casa de la Cutura (House of Culture) is an important cultural phenomenon all across Mexico -- most towns have at least one for development and enjoyment of arts by the people (el pueblo). Citizens can take classes in everything from dance and music to language, painting and sculpture, as well as attend exhibitions, readings, concerts and theatrical performances. The main Tijuana casa commands the hilltop above the west end of el centro (downtown), up Fourth Street, in the neighborhood called Altamira. It used to be a big school building -- very impressive architecture.

The Casa features several gallery spaces with multiple exhibitions -- there is always something to see -- a theater, artist studios (sometimes open to visitors but please do not disturb classes), and the café galeria with its capucinos and exhibits and evening performance schedule (Daniel read his poetry there once). Even the hallways are called into service as gallery space. This facility and CECUT are perhaps the two most important exhibition facilities in Tijuana. The Casa building itself is a gem -- a beautiful old school structure with magnificent early 20th-century architecture, ensconced amid towering trees and lawns, with parking lot behind.

The Casa de la Cultura is administered by the IMAC (Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura) which usually posts their schedule/calendar (in Spanish) here BUT that includes ALL CITY EVENTS, not just the Casa.

To get to the Casa on the hill: 

Take a taxi especial (maybe seven to ten dollars from the border) or from downtown take a blue ALTAMIRA bus from Third between Constitucion and Niños (B & C) or a blue ALTAMIRA/VILLA taxi from Third (Tercera, by the way) between Niños and Miguel Martinez (D Avenue). GET OFF at the TOP of the BIG hill. The Casa is that big old school building surrounded by trees.

For those of you who dare to drive from downtown, go along 3rd past the park and one block more, then turn left on H and next right on Fourth Street (ONLY from H Avenue -- 4ta is one way the other way before then). Driving from the beaches via autopista-Juárez-2nd, turn right on H (at the Calimax supermarket), go two blocks to turn right on 4th and climb the hill. At the top, the Casa is in front of you. Go in that gate and park in the parking lot.

PEDESTRIANS: The truly daring may walk up the outdoor staircase from Fourth before it bends around the hill. Off in the canyon on your left you may hear the zeburros roaring in their corrals at night. Don't step on the human poop on the staircase. At the top of the outdoor staircase (built ages ago for kids to go uphill to the old school), you get to a sidewalk. Go straight ahead briefly, and then the Casa will be first to the right, but then left across the street (NOT in someone's back yard!!!). You usually have to go all the way around to the parking lot to get inside the iron fence -- unless the gate is open.

There is also a beautiful Casa de la Cultura in Playas de Tijuana adjoining the Cortijo San Jose horse ring, just off Paseo del Pedregal on Avenida del Agua. It offers classes, movie screenings, a gallery, and cafe literario. Parking.

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Privately operated "cultural centers"

Recently -- in the past few years -- a new group of small clubs have opened up, generically called centros culturales, a kind of a mix of artist cafe and performance space, where you can usually get a drink, whether coffee-type, alcohol, or fruit or soda, etc., and something tasty to snack on, while you talk and listen to music.  Many of these centers also put on alternative theatrical productions or dance, as well as hosting art exhibitions.  Local cogniscenti wax nostalgic about one now-defunct great-grandfather of these establishments, the Rio Rita, which sat right on Revolution Avenue -- but it's since been remodeled as a hotel of the same name -- and it doesn't look cheap.  Classy, actually.

The privately-run centro cultural phenomenon in Tijuana appears to be an alternative to the big institutional spaces like CECUT (the "Centro Cultural de Tijuana" no?).  Artistic freedom, without bureaucratic or governmental dominance and direction, seems to be the driving motive behind their existence -- not a new motive, by any means, but now, at the turn of the millennium, Tijuana is experiencing a sudden flourishing of these venues.  By patronising these establishments you can experience contemporary Mexican culture and art, and help them to succeed in their mission while you enjoy yourself.  Other than getting invited to a private party at someone's home or their afterhours place of business, this is maybe the most authentic cultural nightlife experience you can find on short notice.

For interest's and simplicity's sake we have also included a couple "Noche Bohemia" spots -- Bohemian Nights -- where music and sometimes poetry and dance are presented, often only one night a week.

FYI: None of these places are giant drugmoney-rumored nightclubs, all-you-can-drink dance bars on Revolution, nor prostitution gambling bars.  Sorry.  Homey doesn't do'it like that.

We apologize to those centers we have not mentioned here... send us an email to tijuanagringo@yahoo.com and we'll try to get by and check you out. Hablamos y leemos español y entonces puedes escribirnos en ese idioma si prefieres para explicar cualquier cosa sobre tu centro o club o café cantante lo que sea.  Gracias por tu paciencia.

El Lugar del Nopal

"The Place of the Nopal-Cactus" -- as its name means -- is old enough to have breathed some of the same air that enlivened the old Rio Rita.  About five-and-a-half blocks west of Revolution, el Nopal sits tucked against the south hills at the end of Cinco de Mayo (F avenue) just past 6th street, in the west end of the centro -- downtown.  It showcases a variety of musical and artistic performers -- almost all Spanish speaking/singing -- many of national and international reputation.  This is an intimate, close-up experience, with a feel very much like a classic small club in Madrid or San Francisco.  Very popular with the young and the beautiful.  Its Friday and Saturday evening events usually have a cover charge around a hundred pesos, sometimes fifty (ten