I was in northeastern Mexico (Nuevo Leon) in February and have more to report on than will fit in one post, so I'm going to break it up into more bite-size bits. Today: museums. (Which I like a lot)
When you get beyond the resort town bubble in Mexico you quickly notice that the quality and quantity of museums is very high. The Monterrey metropolitan area is the second-largest in Mexico, making it comparable to major US metros with populations in the 5–7 million range. Think Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX or Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX You know -- business-driven, industrial focused, fast-growing, and conservative-leaning (by Mexican standards).
The gov't website lists 23 museums in the city itself, but there are plenty more in the broader metro area, too. https://sic.cultura.gob.mx/lista.php?table=museo&estado_id=19&municipio_id=39
The star attractions anchor the southeast and northeast corners of the central MACRO Plaza
MARCO *️⃣ *️⃣ *️⃣
Like many contemporary/modern art museums from the late 20th century, this one pulls you in with its architecture first. The joke among curators is that you're drawn far inside by the design so that by the time you realize it is home to modern art it's too late to get back to the door. The architect Roberto Legoretta, who you'll know from the modernist New Cathedral or La Chichona in Managua from the early '90s, was given a free hand and he ran with it. You'll recognize some of the same elements from his hotel built in the Polanco DMX for the '68 Olympics. I stayed there to get a feel for the place and enjoyed the hotel more than the Polanco. (It appears in the Pierce Brosnan movie "Matador" too.)
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/culture/the-colorful-legacy-of-ricardo-legorreta/
Modern art can be hit or miss, and the trend for the last decade or two has veered towards socio-political commentary, but the galleries here are well worth your time in any case.
Museo de Historia Mexicana *️⃣ *️⃣ *️⃣. https://www.3museos.com/sobre-3-museos/museo-de-historia-mexicana/
is now part of a three-museum cabal that includes one that focuses on the northeastern states in particular (including Texas) and another that occupies the ground floor of the 19th century gov't palace and covers Nuevo Leon specifically.
https://www.3museos.com/sobre-3-museos/museo-del-palacio/
Against the usual expectations for Mexican history, I did not want to spend a lot of time on pre-colonial civilizations, captivating though they are. I skimmed past most of those displays to be able to concentrate on northeastern Mexico's place in international affairs from the 16th to 21st centuries. Just as Ken Burns' recent series on the American Revolution places that period in a more global context than most of us were treated to as schoolkids, the story of northern Mexico involves every kind of change the Atlantic regions were roiling through -- the decline of aristocracy and rise of nation-states, the rise of mercantile and corporate power, the industrial revolution and its consequences, the shifts in European imperial power from southern to western Europe, the waves of immigration driven by economic and political/prejudicial forces. And more.
Americans are notorious for their ignorance of their own history, let alone anyone else's, and if like me you share some of that condition, the museums and guides of Monterrey, NL, will clue you in to what Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana purchase and the extension of Manifest Destiny under James Polk meant for the people who were living and arriving in this part of the world. Ditto the story of the Republic of Texas.
I will add some info about my favorite museum discoveries of this trip, below.
Teaser: What aristocratic cabinet of curiosities sticks in your mind from your European travels? What other US president(s) filled in their resumés with assignments in the supposedly wild west?