Teotihuacan… Oh my Gods !

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I went to the premiere of the exhibition Teotihuacan, la cité des Dieux, in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. Very good idea to highlight this city-state, quite unknown in France. Teotihuacan has had a great influence on Mesoamerica between the 1^st and the 6^th century of our era, preparing the field for the civilization known as the Azteca here. The exhibition presents pieces from several collections, but the large majority comes from the impressive Museum of Anthropology of Mexico.

It is very hard to explain things from a civilization that has not revealed all its secrets yet. So globally it is a good job the Museum has done. I would just be a little bit disappointed by the model of the city which does not reflect the splendor of Teotihuacan. From my point of view, it was necessary to present a model but generally speaking I found that the exhibition was too ‘wise’. Maybe a more racy staging could have better served the exhibition. Anyway, explanations for kids are very well done, for example.

Mexican art and history are quite trendy right now as the British Museum is showing Moctezuma, Aztec Ruler. I have not seen this one but I would be curious to do so, as the British Museum always organizes great exhibitions. I take the opportunity to have a rant. In France many media have presented Moctezuma as the last Aztec emperor. The truth is that he was the last emperor before the Spanish conquer Mexico. Then Cuitlahuac followed and Cuauhtemoc, who  was the last one.

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