Last week I visited the Estanquillo Museum in the heart of the Historic Center of Mexico City. It is a quirky and eclectic museum which draws on the collection of journalist and intellectual Carlos Monsiváis (1938 - 2010). During his lifetime, Monsiváis collected around 20,000 objects that included photographs, paintings, toys, books and other sundry items. In fact, the name of the museum... "estanquillo"... is the Mexican word for a sundries store.
It had been many years since I had been to the museum. There are currently two exhibits there. One of them, the bizarre artwork of a pair of contemporary artists, did not really interest me. I came to see an exhibit of miniatures carved from cow bones. The intricate works done by master artisan Roberto Ruiz (1928 -2008) were very impressive. Unfortunately, the museum has adopted the stupid rule that photography is only allowed with cell phones and not cameras. I hate taking pictures with a cell phone! Here are some photos that came out decently (with some work with photo shop).
The artist at work
The miniatures cover a variety of traditional Mexican themes... religious and historical scenes, daily Mexican life, and many "Day of the Dead" works with skeletons, skulls and "catrinas".
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