Textile Museum, El Llano, Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art of Mexico, Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, Monte Albán
Due to some logistical issues, I left Mexico City without doing everything that I wanted to. I got to Oaxaca de Juárez, and after spending some time in the hostel, I went out to have a look around. The first place I visited, not far from where I was staying, was the Textile Museum. I was a bit curious, and it was free, so I went inside.
It was a small place, with two galleries on the first floor and another gallery on the second floor. There were a couple of signs there, but overall there wasn’t much information. It was almost like an art exhibit, which seemed weird to me. The three galleries were different from each other, and were somewhat interesting to look at, but in the end I didn’t feel like I learned much about textiles.
The next stop was El Llano park, which in my eyes was more of a garden. It wasn’t a big place, although it was nice. There were some trees, grass, benches spread around, and a couple of fountains and statues. It was a bit narrow and elongated, and it took me several minutes to walk along the park, looking at everything. After looking around the park, I sat down to rest for a few minutes before heading to the Zócalo, which was pretty boring and unimpressive.
I walked around the city some more, and found myself near the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art of Mexico. This museum, too, was free. There was a sign in English near the entrance but not much else other than that. The museum was more of an art gallery dedicated to Pre-Hispanic art. There were labels in Spanish with minimal information regarding the art pieces, not all of which I could understand, but for me it was mainly just looking at the art, statues and tools for the most part. The different galleries in the building, from what I understood, with art pieces from different parts of Mexico, not just Oaxaca. Although I didn’t find it particularly beautiful, I did appreciate the historic importance of the collection.
The last museum I visited in Oaxaca de Juárez was the Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca. An ex-convent, it was quite a big place with an open area at the entrance. On the first floor was a gallery which I was sure I fully understood. It seemed to be an art installation of sorts, talking about women and their traditional roles within the family (and in society).
After I had a look around the exhibition I walked up the stairs and found myself next to a couple of galleries. Unsure if there was a particular order to go through them, I just went to the one closest to me. It seemed to be about the development of different Pre-Hispanic cultures, first in Mexico as a whole, and then more specifically in Oaxaca.
In between various items on display, such as statues, tools, and funerary urns, there were some signs in Spanish spread around the place. Be it for context, or perhaps more vocabulary, I managed to understand more from the signs in this museum than I did in other museums. Roughly in the middle of the room, I did find a sign in English, which was more concentrated and summed up all the signs in Spanish. It all proved to me that I did indeed manage to understand quite a bit without English.
I exited the gallery on the other end of it and found myself on a terrace overlooking the nearby botanical garden, which mainly housed different types of cactus. It was a nice view, and I felt like it saved me the need to pay for a tour to go inside the garden. I wasn’t very interested in learning about the history of the place, I enjoyed looking at them and that was it.
After taking in the view, I headed to the gallery about Tomb 7, one of the richest tombs in Monte Albán, and Alfonso Caso, the man who is credited for discovering and exploring it. There was some background information about Alfonso Caso and his expedition, but the gallery was less about the people and more about what they found. And they found quite a lot of things.
Treasure, gold, jewelry, and other items were on display, alongside signs in both Spanish and English. Different items made from different materials were displayed all over the gallery, and I felt like I’m learning quite a bit about Tomb 7. As I wanted to visit Monte Albán, this felt like an interesting introduction.
From there I went up another staircase, had another view of the botanical garden, and entered yet another gallery. Once again, the signs in Spanish were spread out while there was only one sign in English. It started by talking about the Classic Period of Mesoamerica, and then the Post-Classic, describing some of the political changes that happened in Mexico and in particular in Oaxaca.
Then it also started to get into Spanish colonization of Mexico, and I found myself understanding less and less of what I was reading, although the display items such as weapons and armor didn’t require much explanation.
Further ahead, there was a section about religions and Christianity, at which point I felt very lost and didn’t understand much.
Other than that, there were a few small “miscellaneous” galleries, each dedicated to different aspects of life in Mexico, such as cooking, music, and ceramics. After looking at the metalwork gallery briefly I made my way back downstairs and left the museum. I found it to be quite an interesting learning experience, for me it was certainly worth a visit.
Instead of going on a guided tour to Monte Albán, I preferred to save some money and just go by myself using public transport. The advice I found online was outdated, and as a result it took me longer than I expected to figure out where the bus leaves from, and buy a ticket. After asking around, I eventually found the right place. I sat around with a couple other people waiting for the bus, and then we waited some more, as apparently there weren’t enough people. We left later than we were supposed to, and after about half an hour we got to a parking area where the bus driver dropped us off and reminded us the timetable for going back.
The small group separated almost immediately, and I was by myself. After buying the ticket, I headed through the gate to the archaeological site of Monte Albán. I wasn’t sure where to go or what to do exactly, but part of the road was blocked, and there was also a sign with an arrow pointing the way, so I didn’t really need to think about it.
For about a minute or two I walked along the paved road, but then I spotted a sign next to some ruins, and went off the road in order to take a better look and read it. The sign was in Spanish, English, and another language I didn’t recognize (and so were all the other signs on the site). It mentioned what the structure was (or what archaeologists think it was), and a rough time of when it was built and used.
After reading the sign and walking around the structure, I moved on to the next one, which was very close by. There were a couple of graves, as well as more solid structures, and for the most part they had some information in there. And then there was a deeper underground area, with stairs leading down. At first I wasn’t sure if I’m allowed to go there, but after a tour guide led a couple of people down there, I quickly followed them. It was a small place without much in it, and after a quick look I went back up and returned to the main road.
There was a split in the road and I had two options. The first one was to climb some stairs and go into the Main Plaza, where there were a bunch of pyramids and ancient ruins. The second option, which I chose, was to keep going along the paved road. Along the way I’ve seen a few more ancient structures and read a few more signs. They weren’t all that informative, but they did provide a general idea of how those structures were used, and when.
When I got to the end of the paved road it was replaced with grass and dirt, and I just kept walking along. I wasn’t sure if I was technically in the Main Plaza, but it seemed I was, as there were quite a few pyramids to look at.I went around the side, reading a few more signs and taking some pictures before I stood in front of a steep staircase. I took a breath and started climbing. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually I got to the top.
In front of me was another pyramid, which was nice to look at. Behind me though, was something even better. As I turned around, I had a clear high view of the Main Plaza, with everything in it, and I also didn’t have trees obstructing the views, so I could see some city structures and mountains in the distance.
I enjoyed the view for a while, walked around the top, and made my way back down, to have a better look at the structures and ruins in the Main Plaza, read the signs, and explore the sight some more. It took me a while, but I did see most of it. There was one pyramid I avoided simply because of a guy selling souvenirs that stood next to it, and I found him quite annoying. I understand setting up a shop near the entrance of Monte Albán, but this was right in the middle of it.
I moved on from the main plaza, climbed some stairs, and got another view of the area from the other signs, which was quite nice. I went back down, onto another dirt trail, and a couple of minutes later I found myself back on the main road.
I got back to the entrance, and as I still had some time before taking the bus back to the city, I decided to check out the museum. It was a pretty small place, with signs only in Spanish. I was a bit tired, so for the most part I didn’t attempt to read them, but from what I did read the items on display were discovered in Monte Albán, such as burial offerings and funerary urns. I could probably spend some more time there, and learn more about the site, but after a few minutes there I decided to leave and headed back to the parking area to wait for the bus.