Maya kingdom takes the capital
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Visitors to the nation’s capital can see, hear and even taste Mexican culture during an areawide festival that is to open this week.
More than a dozen museums, gardens, theaters and other institutions are collaborating with the Mexican Cultural Institute and Mexico’s embassy on “¡Viva Mexico! Washington, D.C. Celebrates.” Most events run at least through May; some extend into the summer and beyond.
The centerpiece is “Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya,” a 130-piece exhibition at the National Gallery of Art that presents stone sculptures, ceramics, hieroglyphs and other works by artists and scribes working from about 600 to 850 for kings and nobles of the Maya kingdom. The works come from southern Mexico, focusing on Palenque in Chiapas, and from Central America.
Highlights include a stucco portrait head of King Pakal, reproductions of wall murals depicting war scenes and ceramic figurines of Maya ballplayers. The exhibit runs April 4 to July 25 in D.C., then opens Sept. 4 at San Francisco’s California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Free. (202) 737-4215, www.nga.gov.
Other events include:
* “The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera: Memory, Politics, Place,” also running April 4 to July 25 at the National Gallery of Art, focusing on a lesser-known phase in the great Mexican muralist’s career. Free.
* “Un Domingo en Coyoacan” (A Sunday in Coyoacan), more than 100 images by 31 Mexican photographers. Tuesday to May 8. Ellipse Arts Center in Arlington, Va. Free. (703) 228-7710, www.arlingtonarts.org.
* “Milestones of Mexican Cinema,” April 18 to July 10, presents more than two dozen significant movies. National Gallery of Art. Free.
* “Celebrating Plants of Mexico and Central America,” May 1 to July 30 at the United States Botanic Garden, focuses on how the Maya used plants for medicine, clothing and other needs. www.usbg.gov.
* “Flavors of Mexico,” a series of cooking classes April 4 to Dec. 25 at Rosa Mexicano restaurant. (202) 783-5522.
For a festival schedule: www.washington.org/vivamexicodc.
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