Mexico recovered a Mayan panel fragment of more than 1,000 years old, after being officially delivered to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in Chicago, United States.
This was reported on Friday in a statement by the Ministry of Culture, which also explained that the repatriation process was carried out in collaboration with the Government of Mexico, after INAH experts certified its authenticity and state of conservation.
The panel, made of limestone, comes from the Mayan classic period (600-900 AD) and possibly originated in the Puuc region, which covers parts of the current Campeche and Yucatán.
The relief represents a figure with a mask and touched, with extended hands in the gesture of speaking.
Originally, the sculpture consisted of two faced figures, the agency said.
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In a press conference held this Friday at the NMMA, the general director of INAH, Diego Prieto Hernández, stressed that this museum’s gesture is a “milestone in the relations between the museums of the United States and Mexico”, by actively collaborating in the repatriation of heritial pieces that are abroad illegally.
The anthropologist explained that the fragment will remain at least one year on exhibition in Chicago, as part of an effort for Mexican, Mexico and Latin communities to appreciate it.
“The idea is that this exhibition helps, especially between the student public and the girls and boys of Mexican origin, to understand the importance of repatriation and the fight against illicit traffic of our country’s heritage, anywhere, particularly abroad,” said Prieto Hernández.
Reyna Torres Mendivil, general consul of Mexico in Chicago, celebrated the recovery of the panel and stressed that these goods must be available “not only for Mexican people, which is those who belong, but so that everyone can enjoy them in public spaces and not in private collections.”
The piece was part of the private collection of Jeanne’s family and Joseph Sullivan, who exhibited it in the Metropolitan Art Museums of New York and Brooklyn during the 1960s and 1970s.
It was his children who decided to return it to Mexico, requesting the support of the NMMA to make repatriation possible.
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The director of Visual Arts of the NMMA, Cesáreo Moreno, said that this action is a significant step to change the perspective on the conservation of cultural heritage.
“The 21st century is no longer about collecting pieces, but about working along with the communities. We want to expose this fragment so that girls, boys and students who come to the museum can learn and think what repatriation means,” he explained.
In turn, Antonio Saborit García-Peña, director of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico, stressed that the reintegration of this type of pieces implies a deep recognition of the historical and cultural value of Mesoamerican civilizations
With EFE information
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