The Casa de México Foundation in Spain, in collaboration with the Mexican Government and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), is hosting the most important exhibition of Pre-Hispanic art ever organised in Spain to date from 4 October to 15 February 2026. It also forms part of a series of three exhibitions in Madrid, which are devoted to the female principle in indigenous Mexico.
This exhibition is part of the declaration of 2025 as the Year of Indigenous Women, which recognises their fundamental role as guardians of memory, traditions and ancestral knowledge. The exhibition presents a total of 98 pieces to visitors, originating from the Mexica, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Olmec, Huastec and Teotihuacan cultures, among others.
Stone and ceramic sculptures of various sizes, from small figures to monumental 2.5 metre high pieces, will be on display, along with textiles, basketry and oil paintings. All these pieces enable visitors to explore periods ranging from the Pre-Classic to the 21st century and provide a diverse view of female representations in the indigenous universe.
The curatorial concept analyses the female principle in Pre-Hispanic Mexico based on duality as a central axis, which is understood not as opposition but as the integration of complementary forces. Focusing on three themed lines (The Two Parts of the World, The Ostentation of the Body and The Female Sacredness), it shows how females were related to the earth, fertility, life, death and power, transcending the limits of binary thought.
Image Credit:
Secretariat of Culture-INAH-MEX. Digital Archive of the Collections of the National Museum of Anthropology. INAH-CANON.
