Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire

Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire will explore how artworks from the ancient city shape our understanding of Teotihuacan as an urban environment. One of the earliest, largest, and most important cities in the ancient Americas, Teotihuacan is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most visited archaeological site in Mexico. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), will feature recent, never-before-seen archaeological discoveries and other major loans from Mexican and US cultural institutions. Monumental and ritual objects from Teotihuacan’s three pyramids will be shown alongside mural paintings, ceramics, and stone sculptures from the city’s apartment compounds. By bringing these pieces together, and encouraging visitors to understand the context of specific sites within the city, the exhibition will provide a rare opportunity for Bay Area audiences to experience a significant place in Mexico's cultural landscape—the captivating and mysterious ancient city of Teotihuacan.