In September 2000, the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man presented a large-scale exhibition devoted to the cultures and cultural history of our nearest neighbors, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. ISEM assembled a team of scholars, exhibition designers and other professionals to produce a pathbreaking exhibition, and educational program entitled “Sacred Space: Man and the Divine in Mexico, Central America, and the Southwestern United States.”

The exhibition, presented in collaboration with the Dallas Historical Society and the Mexican Institute for International Cooperation, includes more than 200 mural-sized color photographs by distinguished Dallas architectural photographer Carolyn Brown. Dr. Richard Brettell, an internationally recognized curator, curated the exhibit. Now available for other venues, this photographic exhibit presents the sacred landscapes and architecture of an immense geographic region that includes all of present-day Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Southwestern United States. This region has been inhabited for more than ten millennia and has been the home to a series of varied and sophisticated civilizations.

The roof of Templo de Santa María Tonanzintla, like the culture of the region, reflects a profound blending of native cultural imagery and values with those of subsequent immigrants and invaders.

Throughout its long history, the peoples who have lived in and transformed its landscapes have created Sacred Spaces, set within the natural world and dedicated to the physical embodiment of the Divine. Whether sacred mountains, pyramids, ceremonial causeways, great assembly halls, ritual plazas, or living spaces for priests, these Sacred Spaces transform our perception of the world.

Why This Exhibit Is Important

The demography of Dallas, the Metroplex and, indeed, the entire Southwest represents the convergence of four distinct cultural groups (Hispanic, Anglo, Native American, and African American), as well as of growing numbers of persons from other ethnic origins. All of these cultural groups have been and continue to be impacted in a significant way by the cultures that originated in Mexico and adjacent regions over the last four millennia. And yet, seemingly, there is little awareness in the general public neither about this very important history nor about its impact in shaping our local culture.

The exhibition represents a unique opportunity to address this deficiency, a deficiency that is evident in the lack of knowledge of the general public and also in the curricula of most of the schools. In effect, little is being done to address this need. This exhibition marks an effort by ISEM to raise the awareness of both children and adults to this history that effects us all.

 

Educational CD-ROM

A bilingual educational CD-ROM was created for this exhibition to provide a resource for teachers and school children. Click here to access this comprehensive educational resource: Espacios Sagrados/Sacred Space: The History and Cultures of Mexico, Central America, and the Southwestern U.S.

You will find several chapters of text as well as classroom activities, and advanced essays -- all in both Spanish and English -- plus more than 150 beautiful color photographs in a virtual tour.