Artifacts of one of the most important archaeological sites in the world are on display at Phoenix Art Museum in their newest exhibit Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire in its final exhibition in the United States before heading to Mexico.
“It’s a privilege for us to host Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire at Phoenix Art Museum,” said Amanda Cruz, CEO of Phoenix Art Museum, in a press release. “These objects have an important and timely cultural significance for our visitors… and have an extensive history in proximity to our present-day home in Phoenix.”
The exhibit features ancient artifacts, statues and sculptures that were once a part of the biggest and most mysterious Teotihuacan, whose origins remain unknown. The ancient archeological dig site is located a few miles outside of modern-day Mexico City and many of the findings from the dig are on display for the first time in the United States.
“Teotihuacan is one of the most important cities of ancient Mesoamerica,” said Matthew Robb, the curator of the exhibition and chief curator of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. “(It was) a place where a multiethnic population was drawn together by many of the same… ideas and forces that have long compelled people to create the clustering of monumental architecture and large-scale housing that we call cities.”
Teotihuacan was a cultural hub that consisted of gigantic pyramids with statues, murals and figurines. Common symbols across the works and architecture include detailed depictions of the Feathered Serpent, religious rituals and cultural representations.
In the mural fragments and pieces, Robb mentioned how highly important religion and identity were to people who lived and traveled through Teotihuacan.
Many of the statues and stone carvings have different shapes and symbols to represent the different cultures and practices with more than just Aztec influences.
Some of the most notable parts of the exhibits are also some of the oldest relics of Teotihuacan but have only been recently discovered.
The two greenstone figurines were found in the deepest parts of a tunnel located under the Feathered Serpent Pyramid and depict a male and a female with necklaces strung across their necks.
“They were part of the cities earliest history and they were buried underground for centuries,” Robb said. “They told stories about (the city’s history) and so there must have been stories about these objects and this tunnel that we’re still learning about today.”
Robb said Teotihuacan is an important exhibit to bring to Phoenix because the city was home to more than one culture or ethnicity and all managed to trade, work and engage with one another. He feels that Phoenix, as a multiethnic city, can take away some of the practices used in Teotihuacan.
“We’re getting to that point where more of us live in cities,” Robb said. “Teotihuacan was a multiethnic city. They figured out how to make it work. There’s a way in which (the city) was extraordinarily successful for hundreds of years and I think we can look at that example and try to understand how we might bring some of those examples into the spaces that we live in.”
Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire will open for Phoenix Art Museum Members Friday Oct. 5 and will open to the public Oct. 6.
Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
