Exhibition Tour—Arts of the Ancient Americas | Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

Join Joanne Pillsbury, Andrall E. Pearson Curator of Ancient American Art, and curator Laura Filloy Nadal, along with Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, and special guest Alejandro de Avila to celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Arts of the Ancient Americas galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

Join Joanne Pillsbury, Andrall E. Pearson Curator of Ancient American Art, and curator Laura Filloy Nadal, along with Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, and special guest Alejandro de Avila to celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Arts of the Ancient Americas galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

Learn about the enduring tradition of the Mesoamerican ballgame, new findings on the role of women of power, and an extraordinary technology developed by Moche metalsmiths. These artworks reveal histories of the exchange of materials and ideas across vast distances and millennia andprovide a deeper understanding of the practices and beliefs of the civilizations that thrived in Latin America before 1600. Reflecting new perspectives and recent advances in scholarship, this extraordinary collection reintroduces a new generation of visitors to the ancestral arts of the Americas.


Contributors

Joanne Pillsbury
Andrall E. Pearson Curator of Ancient American Art
Laura Filloy Nadal
Curator, Arts of the Ancient Americas

Video by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and SandenWolff, Inc.

Douglas Hegley, Chief Digital Officer
Sarah Wambold, Executive Producer
Mandy Kritzeck, Managing Producer
Erin Stella, Studio Manager
Hannah Chen, Associate Producer
Malvika Dang, Production Assistant

Jonathan Sanden, Director
Noah Therrien, Producer
Jonathan Sanden, Story Editor
Jonathan Sanden, Noah Therrien, Nate Reininga, Camera
Thomas Lange, Assistant Camera
Hannah Kaylor, Editor


Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez looks at a weaving in the Arts of the Ancient Americas textile gallery
Audio
“For me, living and producing textiles goes along with your life, along with your age, along with your everyday activity, that's why it is a living art, it’s not a piece that's from the past.”
July 14
Gilded copper owl secured to a silvered copper disk
Video
See a virtual reconstruction of this remarkable Moche shield.
May 28
Villagers in Omadesep climbing up ladder-like scaffolds to install tall bisj poles
Video
In 1961, 23-year-old Michael C. Rockefeller made two trips to New Guinea where he met with Asmat elders and artists.
May 28
More in:Native American and Indigenous HeritageHispanic/Latine Heritage

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Eagle relief, Toltec artist(s), Andesite or dacite, Maya blue, stucco, red pigment, Toltec
Toltec artist(s)
900–1200 CE
Eagle relief, Toltec artist(s), Andesite or dacite, Maya blue, stucco, red pigment, Toltec
Toltec artist(s)
900–1200 CE
Corn stalk-shaped vessel, Nasca artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Nasca
Nasca artist(s)
1–600 CE
Seated ballplayer, Ameca-Etzatlán artists, Ceramic, slip, Ameca-Etzatlán
Ameca-Etzatlán artists
200 BCE–300 CE
Standing ballplayer, Ameca-Etzatlán artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Ameca-Etzatlán
Ameca-Etzatlán artist(s)
200 BCE–300 CE
Face, Olmec artist(s), Jadeite, Olmec
Olmec artist(s)
900–400 BCE
Standing female figure, Huastec artist(s), Sandstone, Huastec
Huastec artist(s)
1250–1521 CE
Nose ornament in the shape of a head, Gold (partially silvered), silver, Moche
Moche
500-800 CE
Tunic with Felines, Cotton, camelid hair, Chimú
Chimú
1450–1550