Malinaltepec Mask
Malinaltepec, Guerrero, 700 a.c.
Serpentine, amazonite, turquoise, shell and obsidian. 35 x 45 cms
Museo Nacional de Antropología.
© Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes
Teotihuacan
View of the Avenue of the Dead
Teotihuacan. Art from the City of Gods in Barcelona CaixaForum Barcelona presents ‘Teotihuacan. City of the Gods’, an exhibition featuring some 400 pieces of art from the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, one of the most important cultural, political and religious centres of the ancient Mesoamerica
From 1 April to 19 June 2011
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Source: CaixaForum Barcelona / theartwolf.com
Located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Mexico City, Teotihuacan is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico, and it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. For more than 8 centuries, it was the main cultural, political and religious centre of a powerful civilisation. At its zenith (around 450 CE) the city covered over 30 km² and housed a population of almost 250,000 people.
The exhibition at the CaixaForum Barcelona is the most complete ever devoted to Teotihuacan culture. According to the press note of the exhibition, “Visitors will discover this great city through exhibits illustrating the most outstanding facets of Teotihuacan culture: ideology, power, art, society, religion, war, traditions, everyday life and, needless to say, the influence on other pre-Hispanic civilisations.”
The exhibition is organized according to the structure designed by the archaeologist Felipe Solís. The main sections are: “The construction of the city. A 22.5 km2 metropolis”, “Politics, hierarchy and trade. Ruler or rulers?”, “The Teotihuacan pantheon and religious worship. Priests and princes”, “The chiefs. Palace life”, “The art of Teotihuacan workshops. The canon of power” and “Relations with Mesoamerica. Warriors and merchants”.
The many masterpieces exhibited include an impressive head of a feathered serpent, measuring 100 x 60 x 50 cms; the Great Jaguar of Xalla, and the so-called Disc of Death.
The exhibition will be on show to the public at CaixaForum Barcelona from 1 April to 19 June 2011. It will later travel to Madrid, opening in July.
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