When it comes to art, I never cease to be amazed at artists’ attention to detail. The tender etches and carves of a dedicated hand, whether in the name of art, love, religion or all three, invariably offer the human eye a veritable aesthetic feast. An impressive exhibit will naturally be digested with a contemplative inquisition on its historical, emotional or theological roots.
Dressing like Gods – an exhibition of Mexican sculptures currently on display at the Egyptian Museum – is a case in point. Walking into the gallery and meeting the myriad figurines sheltered behind glass is like creeping through an endangered Oaxaca kingdom of mini-gods, each so deftly sculpted and preserved a salutary glance is not enough to satisfy the eye. Indeed, their characters are so remarkably expressed through the artist’s hand that the innocent act of viewing becomes tainted with voyeurism.
Under the same roof of mummies, stuffed crocodiles and ancient Levantine jewelry, it might seem strange that an entourage of Mexican regalia is being displayed in a museum that, up until Jan. 22, had been dedicated solely to indigenous artifacts. But this is no transpacific invasion, rather a cultural diplomatic exchange worthy of its lofty title.
While artifacts pertaining to the ancient Egyptian God Isis sit in the museum of Mexico City, a collection of urns, jewelry and other Mesoamerican artifacts are on show at the Egyptian Museum.
“This is the first time artifacts of any other culture and origins have been exhibited in the Cairo Museum. Mexican Ambassador Jaime Nualart told Daily News Egypt. “But it wasn’t an easy process; it took three years to arrange this project.
But while Mr. Nualart spent most of the evening in the spotlight of several cameras all eager to capture the words of the man who brought a slice of pre-Hispanic Mexico to Egypt, I was taking a perfunctory history lesson from Joel Galindo, who had played a prominent part in organizing the exhibition.
The Oaxaca region located on Mexico’s pacific coast was home to, among other peoples, the Mixtecs – c.1220 – 1525 and the Zapotecs, whose culture is said to go back more than 2,500 years.
The Zapotecs – whose ancient city was the famous Monte Alba – were absorbed into the Mixtec state and eventually into the Aztec state, a peoples whose bloodthirsty reputation earned them a place in every childhood history book – I knew them as “The Awful Aztecs whose victims could expect a rather “piecemeal fate.
Joel, with all the dramatic gestation of an enthralling history professor, explained that sun worship was the root cause of the pre-Hispanic South American tendency towards these heart-wrenching episodes.
“According to their calculations, the sun’s cycle was 52 years. These peoples were terrified that the sun would go out after 52 years. They also thought that the energy of blood would stop the sun from going out. This is why sacrifice and the removal of living human hearts were so important.
Judging by an array of captivating yet equally disturbing anthropomorphic depictions – exaggerated ruffled headdresses, huge looped earrings and round staring eyes with thick lids – there can be no doubt these Mesoamericans took their theological symbolism pretty seriously.
Standing for a wider shot, I admired the human endeavor behind these magnificent empyrean relics. With this striking pantheon of treasures, the Egyptian museum’s cultural exchange debut will certainly not go amiss.
For more information about the Dressing like Gods exhibition, check the culture agenda on this page.
