Ceramics of the Ancestors: A Spring Day at the Mall

Photos of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in 

Washington DC. 

This weekend the museum's first bi-lingual exhibit (English/Spanish), Ceramica de los Ancestros (Ceramics of the Ancestors) opened to the public. It is a temporary exhibit that will be on display until 2015. If you live in the Washington DC area or are visiting in the next few years I recommend you go and see this beautiful exhibit of ceramics, pottery, jade, and gold from Central America. 

NMAI Photo from the Exhibit

"The ceramics these diverse communities left behind, combined with recent archaeological discoveries, help tell the stories of these cultures and their achievements. The exhibition examines seven regions representing distinct Central American cultural areas that are today part of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama." (quote from the exhibit press kit).

There are some beautiful ceramics and sculptures in this exhibit. My favorite are the different portrayals of women. Some are whimsical and some are mysterious, but all are beautiful. The detail on some of the works on display are amazing and really provide a historical and social record of daily life and of  the spiritual beliefs of the people in this area a thousand years ago, and still today. 

There are also a few beautiful jade carvings and gold pins that are again amazing in their detail.  You can get a little taste of the exhibit from the Smithsonian video below:

My visit to the exhibit was too short and I know I will go back several times before the exhibit closes in early 2015. 


(Photos of Washington DC and the NMAI Museum are mine, sorry they're not perfect quality, but it was still a lovely almost spring day)