Pre-Hispanic Mexican sounds resonate at Rome's Scuderie del Quirinale Museum

Pre-Hispanic Mexican sounds resonate at Rome's Scuderie del Quirinale Museum

· The exhibition "Tlapitzalli: Rituals and Sounds of Ancient Mexico" is inaugurated at the Scuderie del Quirinale Museum.

· This is the largest exhibition dedicated to the sounds of Mesoamerica ever presented in Europe.

The Scuderie del Quirinale Museum in Rome has opened its doors to the largest exhibition on the sounds of Mesoamerica ever presented in Europe: "Tlapitzalli: Rituals and Sounds of Ancient Mexico."

Organized by the Mexican Ministry of Culture's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the exhibition was officially inaugurated by Mexico's Ambassador to Italy, Carlos García de Alba Zepeda, and Italian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Giorgio Silli. The opening ceremony featured a performance by Mexican flutist Horacio Franco.

Open to the public from July 30 to September 14, 2024, the exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Mexico.

Exhibition coordinator Frida Montes de Oca Fiol said at a press conference with the Italian media held before the inaugural ceremony, "The best way to celebrate 150 years of official diplomatic relations between Italy and Mexico is with this resounding demonstration of friendship." She added, "While we don't know exactly how pre-Hispanic Mexican music sounded-its rhythm, time signatures, scales, harmonies or melodies-due to the absence of written scores, we have a wealth of objects like figurines, ceramic models, wind and other musical instruments and codices that help us imagine and possibly come close to what it really was."

The exhibition is divided into seven thematic sections, showcasing 163 archaeological pieces from 13 INAH museums, the National Library of Anthropology and History and the Museum of Anthropology and History of the State of Mexico.

Most of the objects in "Tlapitzalli: Rituals and Sounds of Ancient Mexico" are unique and understudied, and Exhibit Coordinator Montes de Oca Fiol invited visitors to pay close attention, as "they might find secrets hidden for centuries."

In addition, she said that the public could enter a new world by listening to the sounds of the instruments that are part of the exhibit. Thanks to the expertise of the Scuderie del Quirinale team, visitors can for the first time see the exhibition catalog, hear the sounds of the instruments and explore the latest research on the topic.

The term "tlapitzalli" in Nahuatl refers to wind instruments, but the exhibition also explores the various meanings of music in pre-Hispanic Mexico, which was considered divine in origin.

One of the goals of the exhibition is to showcase the technology behind the instruments, such as with a unique quadruple flute from Teotihuacan. Recordings of its sounds can be heard by the public. In addition, together with ethnomusicologists, several recordings were made of the sounds still produced by other instruments from the National Museum of Anthropology's collection, which can also be heard.

In addition to archaeological pieces, the exhibition features photographs of contemporary musical ensembles from ethnographic research, images of pre-Columbian codices and X-rays and infographics explaining the materials and technology of some instruments.