Events | March 8, 2017

Cal State LA's Mesoamerican Symposium to Honor Prominent Mexican Archaeologist

IMG_5213 copy.jpgSymposium will feature leading scholars in the field and an inaugural exhibit of antique books of Mesoamerica and Colonial Mexico

What: 

Cal State LA’s Art History Society, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, presents the 2017 Mesoamerican Symposium titled  “The Foundation of Heaven: The Great Temple of the Aztecs. The symposium will feature leading scholars in the field, as well as an inaugural exhibit of antique books of Mesoamerica and Colonial Mexico.

Who: 

The symposium is dedicated to the life and work of Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, a prominent Mexican archaeologist. Matos Moctezuma is recognized for his work directing the massive, multidisciplinary Templo Mayor Project (1978-2001). The project was to excavate the Great Aztec Temple of the island capital of Tenochtitlan, next to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Zócalo, Mexico City’s famous central plaza. He also conducted field work in such revered places as Tula, Comalcalco, Cholula, Teotihuacan, and Tlatelolco. Matos Moctezuma has published more than 500 articles, exhibition catalogues, and monographs.

When:  

Friday, April 21, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theater.

Saturday, April 22, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Cal State LA, Golden Eagle Ballroom.  

Where:

Cal State LA is located at the Eastern Avenue exit, San Bernardino Freeway, at the interchange of the 10 and 710 Freeways. The address is 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, 90032. Public (permit dispensers) parking is available on the top level of Parking Structure C. Click here for a campus map and directions.

More: 

The symposium will culminate on April 22 at 5 p.m. in the University Library with a special exhibit of antique books, entitled “Transcultural Dialogues: The Books of Mesoamerica and Colonial Mexico. This exhibit will showcase the  Ruwet, Glass and Nicholson collections of Cal State LA that are an integral part of a proposed center for the advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. The collections of books from the 17th to the 21st Centuries, include most of the facsimiles of Mesoamerican Codices and historical chronicles of Colonial Mexico. This makes Cal State LA’s library one of the top repositories in the world in the fields of Pre-Columbian and Colonial History of the American Continent.  The exhibit is curated by Cal State LA’s Art History Professor Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, along with Azalea Camacho and Angelene Campuzano.  

Symposium speakers include Elizabeth Boone, of Tulane University; David Carrasco, of the Harvard Divinity School; John D. Pohl, of the Anthropology Department at Cal State LA; Karl Taube, of the University of California, Riverside; and more. For a listing of speakers, refer to the program online.

Info: 

General admission to the symposium is $25, $15 for college students with ID, and $10 for Cal State LA students with ID. To register, please email ahscsula@gmail.com. For additional symposium information, call (818) 926-7635 or visit http://www.calstatela.edu/arthistorysociety/events.