ÓTULOR

Rótulos are a Mexican art form—hand-painted signs that bring public spaces to life with bold typography, vibrant colours, and playful imagery. More than mere advertisements, they serve as cultural expressions, blending tradition with everyday storytelling. As a street art form designed for passers-by, rótulos capture attention and transform words from meaning into imagery. Their significance is not solely derived from the interpretation of the text but also from their visual presentation—the typography, spatial distribution on the wall, and the scale of the lettering all play a crucial role in conveying their message. As transitory writing in no one’s land field-research in México in November 2025 an artistic intervention was inspired through the medium of rótulos.

The words and fragments presented in ÓTULOR originate from a workshop held by transitory writing in no one’s land in May 2024. These literary gestures and phrases written during a workshop at Vantaan sanataidekoulu or Literary Art School of Vantaa were reimagined and hand-painted by local artist Maestro Marco Aurelio Hernández Zente in Cholula transforming them into visual poetry. The language remains as they are in the original texts, preserving the writers’ chosen languages, resulting in Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, and English interwoven throughout the work.

The work ÓTULOR invited passers-by to engage with it as they moved through their day in the town of Cholula, Puebla, México. People stopped, curious about the meaning of the words, recognizing that this was not a typical rótulo advertising a business. Instead, it occupied a space between the commercial use of rótulos and graffiti—blending visual presentation with artistic expression.

Special thanks to the Roldán Family in San Pedro, Cholula, for generously providing the wall for this work.

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