From the primeval forest to the desert
Problems and advantages – Museums in Mexico
MúzeumCafé 31.
Problems and advantages – Museums in Mexico
The National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico is justifiably considered to be one of the most important museums in the world, yet it is just one of more than 1100 museums which can be found in Mexico. There are many institutes which also carry the tile ‘national’, the majority being in Mexico City. However, according to one particular survey, there are barely more than one hundred museums which in their method of presentation and storage facilities can be said to match international standards. At the same time, among the many ‘irregular’ institutes there are several which have extremely rich collections. At least 20 per cent of museums are so-called community museums whose collections are based on donations from a given locality – archaeological finds, items of technology, clothing and old furniture. The profile of museums is wide-ranging and according to official data embraces almost 100 different themes. Mexico has museums devoted to water, tolerance, legends, paper dragons, and appropriately for a country known for its special relationship to passing away and the dead, even to death and dying. How did it all begin? The first museum opened for the public was inaugurated in 1790 in the heart of the Mexican capital, though at the time we can’t speak of Mexico, rather New Spain, which was founded as the first of the four large Spanish colonies. The pioneer institute was the Museum of Natural History, which presented the flora and fauna of New Spain and primarily served scientific purposes. The first national museum, the Mexican National Museum, was established a quarter of a century later, in 1825, by a decree of the first president of the Mexican Republic. The core of its collection came from objects owned by the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico or originated from diverse private collections. It contained finds of excavations, documents relating to ancient Mexico, and a variety of scientific materials and art objects. Initially it was based on the university’s premises but later, at the instruction of Maximilian I, the Second Mexican Empire’s Habsburg ruler, it moved to the Antigua Real Casa de Moneda, next to the National Palace, which eventually became its official base. During the following decades the collection continuously expanded, which eventually led to the institute being divided into two parts. Thus 1909 saw the appearance of the Museum of Natural History and a year later the National Museum of Anthropology, History and Ethnography was established. The first museum outside the capital opened in Morelia in 1886, then during the remainder of the century many others were established – in Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Mérida and Saltillo. In the first decade of the 20th century there were already 38 museums in Mexico. The changes which subsequently occurred are unanimously described by specialists as a veritable explosion of museum openings. That’s not surprising, since by 2002 the number of museums had risen from 38 a century before to 1058, which means that across the country on average more than ten museums opened every year. Among these can be found all sorts of categories – national, regional and state institutes, museums housing public or private collections, and collections of local significance. Among the permanent exhibitions you can find the most diverse themes, from the arts of colonial times, through displays of 20th-century scientific achievements, to the different trends of contemporary arts and the characteristic creations of artists. Often a museum space is devoted to an outstanding historical figure, where the permanent exhibition is organised around the person’s life in connection with the particular region or city, as with figures known from recent or more distant history such as Hidalgo, Morelos, Juárez and Madero. For similar reasons museums have been established in the birthplace of people who played an important role in military affairs, in different battles or other engagements, as has happened in connection with the generals Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa. However, Mexico has museums in memory of not only generals and statesmen, but also poets, writers and artists. Numerous places bear the name of one or other of Mexico’s outstanding artists, such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco, José Luis Cuevas, Manuel Felguérez, Francisco Toledo and David Alfaro Siqueiros. For example, an entire multifunctional centre, the Poliforum Cultural Siquieros, was established in Mexico City around just one of the works of Siqueiros. The fan-shaped building, whose exterior is decorated with coloured murals, stands directly next to the World Trade Center Mexico. Siquieros’s work, The March of Humanity, completely fills the single huge room on the upper floor where apart from the walls the arched ceiling is also covered. The place opened to the public in 1971 and to this day it functions as a private institute. In a country as big as Mexico, maintaining the museum network and infrastructure inevitably involves numerous difficulties, particularly in times when there is no permanent, problem-free political-economic stability.