Around 200 quirky, stylized clay figurines that belonged to an antiquities collector from a well-known family in Guadalajara society have been assembled into an impressive exhibit in the city’s newest public museum, the Museo de las Culturas del Occidente (Museum of Western Cultures), which only opened in September.
In 1993, Mario Collignon found the last tomb from which he collected the clay figurines, many about two feet high. These are the highlight of the show “Inspiracion en Barro — Arte y cultura de la muerte” (Inspiration in Clay — Art and Culture of Death). And Collignon’s finds, which came from “bottle” tombs (tumbas de tiro) found hidden around the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima and Michoacan, seem the perfect material to open a museum devoted to exactly this region — the western, and archeologically lesser known part of Mexico.
The museum, is housed in a beautifully restored building with centuries of history as a military headquarters and before that a seminary. As a museum, it is so new that it is still in a developmental stage, with even its name apparently still in flux. Some call it Museo de las Culturas del Occidente and others Museo de la Arqueologia de Occidente (Museum of Western Archaeology). Considering the large size of the building and the many rooms yet to be filled, one may guess that the more general name will win out, as staffers said there are plans for various types of cultural events there, including music.
However, the present jewel of an exhibit is very much archeological. The pieces date from 300 A.D. to 450 B.C., roughly the time of Christ and, in Mesoamerica, the epochs including the the height of the impressive culture in Teotihuacan and closer to home, the western culture represented in the round pyramids at Guachimontones.
Collignon is said to have displayed the pieces he found in the deep tombs (up to 18 meters) in his home for years. His children have given the figures, dishes and jewelry, all of which were put in the tombs along with bodies of the deceased as part of funeral rites, to the museum, where it will form part of its permanent collection.
Although the five-room show will officially close at the end of July, that only means that it will move upstairs to other rooms in the museum’s three floors, which are yet to be filled. So far, all the parts of the building have been gracefully restored, including the bathrooms.
Museo de la Arqueologia de Occidente, Zaragoza 224 between San Felipe and Reforma and behind Santa Monica church. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. No charge to enter. Tours in Spanish are given to groups of five or more at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Did you know?
By law all antiquities from Mexico belong to the Mexican government and it is illegal to sell them or to export them out of the country. (They may, however, be kept in private collections within Mexico.) It is also illegal to excavate archaeological sites without the permission of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, even if the sites are on private land. Most ancient Mexican artifacts for sale in the United States were excavated illegally (i.e. looted), and most crossed the border illegally.