The 18th annual Tijuana History Symposium is underway this week, hosted by the city’s Department of Culture under the administration of Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz. Long regarded as one of the region’s key public forums on memory and heritage, the symposium runs November 26–29 across two landmark venues: the Old Municipal Palace and Casa de la Cultura.
Municipal Secretary of Culture Ilya Guadalupe Haro Sánchez said this year’s event reaffirms the symposium’s role as a leading space for historical and archival research. Researchers, archivists, journalists, students, and residents from both sides of the border are taking part under the theme “Open Archive: Territory, Processes, and Memories,” which focuses on understanding the region through its lived and documented history.
The opening ceremony included a posthumous tribute to Genaro Nonaka García, a central figure in safeguarding Tijuana’s historical record and a former president of the Citizen Board of the Tijuana Historical Archive.
The program is divided between two historic sites to underscore the city’s cultural legacy: the Old Municipal Palace, which hosts events on November 26, 28, and 29, and Casa de la Cultura Tijuana, which hosts the full program on November 27.
Across the four days, attendees will have access to more than 70 activities, including academic presentations, panel discussions, book launches, artistic performances, film screenings, and nightly keynote lectures by nationally recognized scholars and cultural leaders. Events run daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Since its launch nearly two decades ago, the Tijuana History Symposium has sought to bring historical knowledge directly to the community, strengthen local identity, and highlight the essential role of archives in understanding both the city’s past and its evolving present.
