Mexico exhibits 18 archaeological pieces restored in France in Paris

The Mexican Embassy exhibited on Monday in Paris 18 Archaeological pieces that were recently returned to Mexico, mostly by a family of collectors based in France.

December 6th, Diana Filiu Chaparro, a member of this family of collectors, returned 16 pieces of Mexican heritage to the embassy.

Two other objects were returned anonymously to the embassy on November 15.

The 18 pieces were exhibited in Paris on Monday, before their transfer to Mexico.

The lot includes three clay figures from the period Mesoamerican Classic (100-700 AD), but also eight pieces of pottery, including an earthenware bowl made in the Central Highlands during the Preclassic Late Mesoamerican (200 BC – AD 200).

For two years, Mexico has been trying to recover pieces of its historical heritage that are in private collections in various countries.

“The cultural heritage of a country is not for sale. These goods are very important for Mexican culture and identity,” Ingrid Arriaga, in charge of the exhibitions of the Cultural Institute of Mexico in France.

“They are pieces that were not bought, but were donated. This donation is the result of a whole campaign by the Mexican government to recover pieces that allow us to better understand the archaeological heritage of Mexico,” explained Arriaga.

In its search for archaeological pieces, Mexico nevertheless faces a legal wall.

Under French law, it is up to the Mexican authorities to prove that the pieces were obtained illegally.

But “it is difficult to trace the works, most of which were found and removed from Mexico in the early 20th century,” Arriaga explained.

At the end of January, the Mexico’s embassy demanded the cancellation of an auction organized by Christie’s in Paris.

Despite support from four other Latin American countries, 136 pieces – including a Mayan ax – were sold on November 10 for more than 3 million euros ($ 3.3 million).

The current Mexican government, which began at the end of 2018, celebrates having repatriated 5,800 objects of pre-Hispanic art.

These pieces are exhibited in the numerous cultural spaces of the country, starting with the Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City, which hosts the exhibition “The greatness of Mexico” until February.

The French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves le Drian, is visiting Mexico on Monday and Tuesday and plans to visit the exhibition, which has around thirty pieces loaned by French museums in the framework of the commemorations of the Bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico.