The greatness of Mexico was devised with the logic of restoring confidence in the country: Diego Prieto

Guadalajara, Jal., The exhibition The greatness of Mexico which for almost a year was housed in the National Museum of Anthropology and the Ministry of Public Education to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan and the 200th anniversary of the consummation of Independence was a project that generated initiatives and shared ideas that have a lot to do with the need to rethink the national project at a time of change, therefore, at a time of uncertainty, at a time, to some extent, of confrontation, in which the country debates over leaving behind a series of lags, trappings and inertiaSaid Diego Prieto, director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) during the presentation of a book on that exhibition.

More than a catalogue, it is a volume that gives voice to the pieces exhibited in the show and transfers them to written words, drawing on archaeological records, anthropologists’ field notes, archives of the movements of acquisition and transfer of museum pieces, with annotations by historians and museographersexplained Salvador Rueda Smithers, director of the National Museum of History.

He added that it was an attempt to move away from the accepted and acceptable, but superficial, published guide to the exhibition and not fall into either the bronze history or the pamphlet. The same thing was insisted on not repeating some historical syntheses such as those that circulate and are consulted by readers, especially from the student and teacher population..

The exhibition, recalled Diego Prieto, “began to plan from the end of 2019 with the president (López Obrador). It was about not going unnoticed the two fundamental anniversaries to rethink the country, at a time when we are called to do so, although some may not want to.

The fall of Mexico Tenochti-tlan marks the beginning of the Spanish occupation in our territory, but also the beginning of the very diverse ways of resisting, persisting and adjusting to the new times of the original peoples and cultures of this country.he pointed out.

Sample of the splendor of our nation

The volume was presented this Sunday at the 36th Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL); the head of the INAH clarified that there is already another called Mexico, greatness and diversity, “aimed at secondary school teachers who teach history, civics, geography and social sciences, and which recovers the importance of the INAH in relation to educational processes. It was a book of 120 thousand copies, to distribute massively in public secondary schools in this country.

Initiatives such as booklets of the chapters to distribute them in primary and secondary schools were derived from that work, as well as a platform for people who want to delve into the topics.

Now, The greatness of Mexico It is a tour of that immense exhibition (which included half a thousand pieces), panoramic. This book does not have as its articulating axis the presentation of the aesthetic value of the creations of the Mexicans, nor the purpose of presenting a chronology, but to show, in a very intense way, the readings of these pieces in relation to the greatness of our nation, with the idea that, due to the transformation process we are experiencing, confidence in Mexico had to be restored.

The INAH director considered that “they made us mistrust Mexico, they made us believe that the only model is that of the industrial countries of the West.

“Recovering confidence in the country was the logic of this exhibition, and we achieved it to such a degree that for the first time we brought Mexican objects of enormous value to the country, even if it was temporarily, so that people could see how there are enormous Mexican treasures. in other places on the planet.

Pieces from France, Germany, Italy and the Vatican were presented. The exhibition was a great success despite the fact that it took place in the midst of a pandemic (almost 160,000 people attended).

That is why it was essential to write a book so that people would return to the exhibition, but above all to the words around it, Diego Prieto pointed out.

It’s a beauty of a book, and we hope that eventually it can be widely distributed, as right now it’s a bit expensive. For now, this printed version (600 pages in large format) will begin to be distributed and we hope that later we can agree with the government of the state of Mexico (co-publishers of the volume) the possibility of its dissemination on digital platforms, so that all families can access this magnificent edition, which is also a work of editorial arthe concluded.