It is the opinion of this art historian that one of the best cities in the world is Mexico City. If you've never had the chance to visit, then I sure hope you get the chance to do so at some point in the future. Yes, it is a big, bustling, nutty city with a lot of people and commotion. But it has such an incredible vibrancy. And whew, the art! The architecture! The history! The food 🤤
I could write many blog posts about all the incredible things to do and see in and near Mexico City—and I just might. But for now, I wanted to write a little about the amazing art of the Aztecs. I've visited Mexico City for work and pleasure many times, and the incredible art associated with Aztec culture continues to amaze me each and every time.
Something that was pretty special with this recent visit was going with my husband and two young kids. I had no idea what to expect. Would they love the city? Would they enjoy the art and culture and food?! I was quickly reminded that even though I know a lot about Mexican art and history, I was not there to be a professor or tell them all the things. So I had to experiment with how to provide little tidbits of information or to get them looking and questioning.
And guess what? My kids loved Aztec art. They were interested in the monumental sized stone sculptures. They had a lot of questions about symbols and forms and materials. They wanted to pose next to sculptures. (That eagle warrior was a big hit!) They wanted to know why some of it was in better shape than others. And they also wanted to know how some of it was used. I even got to sneak into conversation a few times that technically the Aztecs called themselves the Mexica, not the Aztecs (that name came much later!).
We had a few different opportunities to experience Aztec art. We visited the always incredible Templo Mayor site and museum. They loved going through the museum and then seeing where some of it was excavated as we walked through what is left of the Templo Mayor.
We spent much of a day at the National Museum of Anthropology—filled as it is with so much high-quality art but whew, prepare yourselves for the marathon. We also spent a couple of hours on the canals of Xochimilco, talking about chinampas and axolotls. They also had a lot of questions about why buildings were lopsided and sinking, which prompted wonderful conversation about draining Lake Texcoco after the Spanish invasion and conquest.
My younger daughter made it her mission to find all the knives that had faces on them (the anthropomorphized blades, or tecpatl in Nahuatl). She thought they were hilarious. I had to explain what they were in an age appropriate way, which she was into. We also turned it into a counting game.
One of the more brilliant ideas I came up with, if I do say so myself, was creating a scavenger hunt for the kids to complete. I had the benefit of knowing the museum collections very well, so it was fun to create. Things like find a jaguar or corn cobs, or look for something made of feathers or turquoise. It was a fun way to engage them in looking closely and wanting to circulate through much of the museums we visited. (I'll share that scavenger hunt!).
The kids also LOVED visiting the canals at Xochimilco. I'm sure that the endless yummy snacks we could buy as we navigated the canals helped 🤣 But they were interested in what chinampas looked like, and it was so fun to just show them! And to get them to imagine the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, as a city of canals. It was something they couldn't imagine until they experienced it.
And my youngest is obsessed with axolotls, so the visit to Xochimilco allowed us to chat a lot of these adorable amphibians. They were a big part of Aztec culture, and let me tell you—she was so into learning about this!
I will post some suggested ideas for itineraries or art visits, along with the scavenger hunts, for those who are interested. But I hope you are inspired to dip into Aztec art on your next trip to Mexico City! More photos below.
コメント