December 3, 2025 - March 22, 2026
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The Government of Mexico declared 2025 the Year of Indigenous Women, in recognition of the presence and contributions of native peoples who, for more than thirty centuries,
They have inhabited their territory and shaped the nation, of which indigenous women are the foundation, support and structure: guardians of memory, languages, traditions and ancestral knowledge that they have preserved, reinterpreting and adapting them to new times.
Within this framework, the exhibition project "Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico" is presented, taking place in four cultural institutions in the city of Madrid: Casa de México, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, the Cervantes Institute, and the National Archaeological Museum ( MAN ). Here, times and cultures intertwine to reveal the human sphere of this indigenous female universe through more than 200 archaeological and ethnographic pieces from 25 collections, illustrating the social context of indigenous Mexican women from pre-Hispanic times.
The exhibition delves into the social sphere of women from native communities, showing continuities in aspects related to their daily life in family, community, economic and ritual contexts, but also in positions of power, highlighting their relevance as mothers, providers, healers, weavers, shamans, guardians of knowledge, warriors and rulers.
The first theme, Daily Life , addresses the preponderant role that Indigenous women have played in the economic and social dynamics of the family unit. From the sexual division of labor onward, since ancestral times the domestic space has been the primary—though not exclusive—place of their work: educators of their children from early childhood and caregivers of the elderly, spinners, weavers, potters, midwives, healers, advisors, those in charge of care and maintenance, religious practices and rituals, possessors and transmitters of knowledge. Today, their participation extends to community organizing and the defense of their territory, demonstrating the continuity of their strength and resilience.
The second theme, Lineage and Power , explores the spaces where women have actively participated in political, military, and ritual life. In the courts of ancient kingdoms, they played significant roles in diplomacy, religion, and the arts, and some even ruled in their own right. There were also priestesses, diviners, and shamans, mediators between the human and the divine. These traditions live on in contemporary Indigenous women who lead processes of resistance and cultural preservation.
More than an evocation of the past, this exhibition is a recognition of the present that indigenous women embody: their words, their work, and their memory keep alive the roots of the native peoples and the very pulse of the nation, and their contributions, spirituality, resilience, and greatness deserve to be recognized in all their dimensions, in Mexico and the world.
Location:
Practical information:
Address: NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM C/ Serrano, 13 28001 Madrid
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday - 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. // Sundays and Public Holidays - 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. // Closed Mondays
Temporary exhibition hall, floor -1.
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