Daniel Hidalgo Valdés

Cultural Homogenization vs. Artistic Autonomy
 

Currently, the mechanisms of cultural regeneration – that is, the processes by which societies produce, reinterpret, and transmit meaning – are being absorbed by large technological and media conglomerates operating under financial and political logic. This cultural control creates an ecosystem where symbolic diversity is reduced to a homogeneous flow of standardized content, designed to maximize attention and consumption rather than critical thinking or imagination. The consequence is a culture that is increasingly less plural, more predictable, and more functional to the interests of those who dominate the infrastructures of communication and distribution. This concentration of power represents a direct threat to meaningful artistic creation: art - as a space for conflict, renewal, and reinterpretation of the human conditions – being displaced by cultural products programmed for complacency and the reproduction of the same. This presentation proposes a reflection on the effects of this cultural homogenization and asserts the urgency of preserving the autonomy of the artistic gesture, not as an individual privilege, but as a vital necessity to maintain the collective capacity to imagine other possible worlds.

 

Daniel Hidalgo Valdés is a composer and music producer, graduate of the Center for Research and Musical Studies (CIEM), with a B.A. in Communication Sciences and an M.A. in Educational Research and Development from Universidad Iberoamericana. He has created acclaimed soundtracks for film, theater, and television, including Amores Perros by Alejandro González Iñárritu and El Alcalde by Rossini, Altuna, and Osorno, both Ariel-nominated for Best Original Score. He won the Ariel Award for Best Sound for Del olvido al no me acuerdo and the 2022 Best Sound Design Award from the Mexican Association of Theater Critics for Tártaro. His sound art includes On the Other Side of the Wall, 7 Akunsticas and a Quarter, and H2ODF. Founder of LIPA (Audiovisual Research and Production Laboratory), he has co-produced over ten feature films and leads its AI research and production division. He was recently elected president of the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC).