Exhibitions

Unknown Mexico
 

Huichol yarn painting. The Rockefeller Collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

The people of ancient West Mexico, whose culture was markedly different from the Aztec and Maya civilizations, remain largely a mystery. They are identified by their burial practice as the “Shaft Tomb Culture.”

Exhibition

Based on an exhibition of original artifacts at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Unknown Mexico features traditional Huichol crafts, ink and wash drawings, and illustrations in acrylic paint, plus color photographs of ancient artifacts and views of modern Huichol Indians. Panel topics include:

• Geographical location
• Chupicuaro culture
• Carl Lumholtz, Naturalist
• Shaft tomb cultures: Nayarit, and Jalisco, and Colima
• Types of shaft tombs
• Diagram of a tomb
• Musical figures
• Tomb guardians
• The Tarascan Empire
• West Mexico folk art of the twentieth century

Unknown Mexico was produced in collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science and organized by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Exhibition Format

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Publicity Materials

Press release

Unknown Mexico press release

Publicity image

A publicity image is available for promoting this exhibition at your venue. Please contact the exhibitions coordinator to request an electronic file of this image. Please allow 2-3 business days for the exhibitions coordinator to process your request.

Humanities Texas logos

Venues may request a CD with the Humanities Texas logo in a number of electronic file formats for use when developing print and online promotional materials. Logo files are also available for download on the logo page.