Mixpantli: Space, Time, and the Indigenous Origins of Mexico

Mixpantli: Space, Time, and the Indigenous Origins of Mexico

LACMA marks the 500th anniversary of the fall of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City) with Mixpantli: Space, Time, and the Indigenous Origins of Mexico. This exhibition subverts the traditional narrative of conquest by centering the creative resilience of Indigenous artists, mapmakers, and storytellers who forged new futures and made their world anew through artistic practice. Nahua scribes gave the name mixpantli, or “banner of clouds,” to the first omen of the conquest, depicting this omen as both a Mexica battle standard and a Euro-Christian column enveloped in clouds. Mixpantli, then, reflects the bringing together of both Nahua and Christian worldviews, and the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reorient space and time in a new world and era. This show puts early colonial art in conversation with pre-Columbian artifacts to showcase the deeply Indigenous worldviews that shaped early Mexico. 

A companion exhibition to Mixpantli: Contemporary Echoes.

LACMA marks the 500th anniversary of the fall of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City) with Mixpantli: Space, Time, and the Indigenous Origins of Mexico. This exhibition subverts the traditional narrative of conquest by centering the creative resilience of Indigenous artists, mapmakers, and storytellers who forged new futures and made their world anew through artistic practice. Nahua scribes gave the name mixpantli, or “banner of clouds,” to the first omen of the conquest, depicting this omen as both a Mexica battle standard and a Euro-Christian column enveloped in clouds. Mixpantli, then, reflects the bringing together of both Nahua and Christian worldviews, and the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reorient space and time in a new world and era. This show puts early colonial art in conversation with pre-Columbian artifacts to showcase the deeply Indigenous worldviews that shaped early Mexico. 

A companion exhibition to Mixpantli: Contemporary Echoes.

This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Generous support is provided by Daniel Greenberg, Susan Steinhauser and The Greenberg Foundation. Support for LACMA's Art of the Ancient Americas department is provided by the Mellon Foundation and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg.

All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, Justin Lubliner, Jennifer and Mark McCormick, Kelsey Lee Offield, Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.

Image: Mirror, 1325-1521, Aztec, obsidian, 4 1/4 in. (10.2 cm) diameter, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (M.85.233.11) photo © Museum Associates / LACMA

• Dec 12, 2021–Jun 12, 2022
• Resnick Pavilion

This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Generous support is provided by Daniel Greenberg, Susan Steinhauser and The Greenberg Foundation. Support for LACMA's Art of the Ancient Americas department is provided by the Mellon Foundation and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg.

All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, Justin Lubliner, Jennifer and Mark McCormick, Kelsey Lee Offield, Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.

Image: Mirror, 1325-1521, Aztec, obsidian, 4 1/4 in. (10.2 cm) diameter, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (M.85.233.11) photo © Museum Associates / LACMA

Installation Photography

Mixpantli showcases the creative resistance of Indigenous knowledge-keepers following the Spanish invasion of Mexico. In this podcast, LACMA curators talk with contemporary artists, activists, and scholars as they contemplate their legacies in today’s Los Angeles.

This podcast and LACMA's Art of the Ancient Americas department's Ancestral Voices initiative are possible thanks to the generous support of Dan Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser.

Participants (alphabetical): Mariana Castillo Deball, artist Alyce de Carteret, Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in Art of the Ancient Americas, LACMA Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Director, Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University Yan Garcia, Nahuatl instructor Diana Magaloni, Deputy Director, Program Director and Dr. Virginia Fields Curator of the Art of the Ancient Americas, and Sazanne D. Booth and David G. Booth Conservation Center Director, LACMA Janet Martinez, Co-Founder and Vice Executive Director, CIELO Sandy Rodriguez, artist Odilia Romero, Co-Founder and Executive Director, CIELO Mariah Tso, artist and GIS Specialist, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, UCLA