Magazines - Tribal Art Autumn 2009

By Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter

Introduction
In light of recent archaeological discoveries, the Musée du Quai Branly, in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH) of Mexico, is re-exploring the history of ancient Meso-America’s greatest metropolis, Teotihuacán. The exhibition, titled Teotihuacán: Cité des Dieux, is a rare opportunity to showcase exceptional artworks, most hitherto unseen, as well as to dispel certain tenacious clichés.

When all yet was in darkness,
when yet no sun had shone and no dawn had broken,
the gods gathered themselves together
and took counsel among themselves
there at Teotihuacán
(Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, 1540–1585)

Teotihuacán: “The birthplace of the gods,” or, according to some translations, “The city with the power to transform men into gods.” Few archaeological sites make an impression of such grandeur, such pride and power. A stone city with the allure of an abandoned theater (except for the hordes of Mexican schoolchildren and heat-stricken tourists), Teotihuacán both fascinates and puzzles. What civilization was both sophisticated and megalomaniacal enough to create these titanic pyramidal edifices, these multitudes of platforms with stocky, silhouetted altars—all punctuating a carefully designed grid that rises from an ancient alluvial plain? What people inhabited these structures decorated with polychrome paintings so resistant to the ravages of time? What deities were worshipped in these temples, on whose vertiginous stairways stood sculptures of terrifying supernatural creatures?