A wonderful exhibition, entitled "The Maya - Revelation of time with no end" was organized at the Quai Branly Museumin Paris.
There were archaeological artifactsfrom Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico - residential territories of the oldest civilizations in the world - the Maya. In accordance with the approximate dating, the artifacts are dated back thousands of years BC. Thecurator of this exhibition is Mercedes de la Garza, writer, historian and academician. She is Distinguished Scientist of the Center for Maya studies at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and a permanent member of the scientific committee of the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico).
The scientific research work continues, and we will soon be able to know the future discoveries in human history.
Indeed, people of the Maya civilization had their time of expansion, development, fulfillment for about 30 000 years. According to scientific researches, the Mayapeoples came on the current territory by nomading- from the lands of Eurasia and the Altai to thecontinent of America. The Maya are divided into 28 groups, each of which has its own linguistic featuresthat distinguish them from other groups.The history of these peoples is complex and multifaceted. With the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, particularly in the south ofNorth America, northern South America, the Maya ethnic group had faced blatant repression of their lives, extermination of their population, the destruction of all the attributes of their life - architecture, sculpture,customs, beliefs, writing, household items. This colossal vandalismwiped from the face of the earth, destroyed, brutallysacked the Mayan civilization, which was much more developed than the current European civilization.
We currently do not have a complete and clear picture of the life of the Maya. And only a few remainingdilapidated cities, the architectural details, sculpture, and other historical monuments of the Mayas constantly surprise us and make us admire the extraordinary and remarkable achievements of these peoples.
The exhibition includes 400 artifacts, among which there are stone creations of various species, including jade. There are also materials like coral, gold, pottery and fabrics.
In pre-Columbian times, the Mayans were a creative civilization that left to their descendants dozens of cities with remarkable architecture, sculpture, made by high technical methods, frescoes, different designs, ceramic vases, dishes, designed to perform rituals beliefs but also to ordinary life and existence.
It is interesting to note that among thedocuments submitted to the exhibition,there are architectural details andstone carvings that are not likely handmade, as if the craftsmen operated with power tools which allowed them to cut a solid stone withhigh accuracy. For me as a sculptor with a large enough work experience, it was quite obvious that the sculptures were not made by hand.In addition, a detail of architecture that scientists cautiously called the "Pelican" was presented in this exhibition, but in truth it is a dinosaur head (Errors of transferring the external appearance of this creature is impossible due to the high precision of the sculpture).
In this exhibition there were alsoceramic ossuaries, sacral vessels to keepthe bones of the dead, very similar to those found during archaeological excavations in Central Asia, which proves definitively the Asian origin of the Maya.
The ceramic creations displayed are distinguished by the exquisite tasteof the Mayan potter, by the beauty of the painting, by the strength of materials.
Also, you can find funerary masksmade from jade, jewelry from these ancient times made from corals, jade and other stones.
Maya sculpture is especially beautiful by the complexity and sophistication of its fabrication. Maya sculptorspass freely and with great precision all the details of fine clothes, men and aristocratic women.
The exhibition allows us to estimatethe size of the Mayan heritage for all humanity. The power of the construction of cities, communication with the environment, the rituals of the Maya, their lifestyle are all presented in the creative aspect with great aesthetic success.
There were archaeological artifactsfrom Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico - residential territories of the oldest civilizations in the world - the Maya. In accordance with the approximate dating, the artifacts are dated back thousands of years BC. Thecurator of this exhibition is Mercedes de la Garza, writer, historian and academician. She is Distinguished Scientist of the Center for Maya studies at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and a permanent member of the scientific committee of the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico).
The scientific research work continues, and we will soon be able to know the future discoveries in human history.
Indeed, people of the Maya civilization had their time of expansion, development, fulfillment for about 30 000 years. According to scientific researches, the Mayapeoples came on the current territory by nomading- from the lands of Eurasia and the Altai to thecontinent of America. The Maya are divided into 28 groups, each of which has its own linguistic featuresthat distinguish them from other groups.The history of these peoples is complex and multifaceted. With the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, particularly in the south ofNorth America, northern South America, the Maya ethnic group had faced blatant repression of their lives, extermination of their population, the destruction of all the attributes of their life - architecture, sculpture,customs, beliefs, writing, household items. This colossal vandalismwiped from the face of the earth, destroyed, brutallysacked the Mayan civilization, which was much more developed than the current European civilization.
We currently do not have a complete and clear picture of the life of the Maya. And only a few remainingdilapidated cities, the architectural details, sculpture, and other historical monuments of the Mayas constantly surprise us and make us admire the extraordinary and remarkable achievements of these peoples.
The exhibition includes 400 artifacts, among which there are stone creations of various species, including jade. There are also materials like coral, gold, pottery and fabrics.
In pre-Columbian times, the Mayans were a creative civilization that left to their descendants dozens of cities with remarkable architecture, sculpture, made by high technical methods, frescoes, different designs, ceramic vases, dishes, designed to perform rituals beliefs but also to ordinary life and existence.
It is interesting to note that among thedocuments submitted to the exhibition,there are architectural details andstone carvings that are not likely handmade, as if the craftsmen operated with power tools which allowed them to cut a solid stone withhigh accuracy. For me as a sculptor with a large enough work experience, it was quite obvious that the sculptures were not made by hand.In addition, a detail of architecture that scientists cautiously called the "Pelican" was presented in this exhibition, but in truth it is a dinosaur head (Errors of transferring the external appearance of this creature is impossible due to the high precision of the sculpture).
In this exhibition there were alsoceramic ossuaries, sacral vessels to keepthe bones of the dead, very similar to those found during archaeological excavations in Central Asia, which proves definitively the Asian origin of the Maya.
The ceramic creations displayed are distinguished by the exquisite tasteof the Mayan potter, by the beauty of the painting, by the strength of materials.
Also, you can find funerary masksmade from jade, jewelry from these ancient times made from corals, jade and other stones.
Maya sculpture is especially beautiful by the complexity and sophistication of its fabrication. Maya sculptorspass freely and with great precision all the details of fine clothes, men and aristocratic women.
The exhibition allows us to estimatethe size of the Mayan heritage for all humanity. The power of the construction of cities, communication with the environment, the rituals of the Maya, their lifestyle are all presented in the creative aspect with great aesthetic success.