The Museum of Anthropology... again

It is said that Mexico City has more museums than any other city in the world.  (Paris ranks second.)  The crown jewel of Mexico City's museums is the world-class National Museum of Anthropology.  I have lost track of how many times I have been there.  It is so impressive that it is always worth another visit, and it is so huge that there is always something that you didn't notice before.

The museum was designed by Pedro Ramírez Vásquez, one of the country's leading architects, and opened to the public in 1964.  (I can still remember reading the article in the National Geographic Magazine about the newly-opened museum.)  Even today, the modern architecture of the building is striking.  In the museum courtyard there is an enormous canopy supported by a single column, carved with pre-Hispanic symbols.

Around the column, a cascade of water falls from the canopy, down to the pavement.  (Holes in the pavement allow the water to drain and be recycled.)

The museum contains the world's greatest collection of artifacts from the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Mexico.  Most visitors don't even make it to the upper floor. which is like a separate museum unto itself.  Here there are ethnographic exhibits on the indigenous cultures of Mexico today... their way of life, their traditional attire, and their handicrafts. There are more the sixty indigenous tribes in Mexico, and more than six million Mexicans speak an indigenous tongue as their first language.

On Wednesday I went back to the museum, but this time I concentrated on the upper floor.  I have already written about the Museum of Anthropology a couple times on this blog, but I have not shown you any pictures of the displays on the upper floor.

You are greeted by a vivid mural painting by the noted artist Miguel Covarrubias.  Against a map of Mexico, it portrays the ethnic diversity of the country.

Here is a small sample of some of the items on display in this section of the museum...

Colorful art created from yarn by the Cora tribe of western Mexico

A re-creation of a shrine in a Tarascan home in the state of Michoacán

 A dancer's costume from the Otomí tribe of central Mexico

Gold filigree jewelry typically worn by the native women of Oaxaca

The famous black pottery of Oaxaca

Folk art by the Nahuas of the state of Guerrero, painted on "amate", bark paper