Centro Cultural Mexiquense is a cultural center located on the western edge of the city of

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

in central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The center is run by the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

government through an agency called the Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura (IMC), the largest and most important of this agency, receiving about 80,000 visitors a year. It contains the Museum of Anthropology and History, the Modern Art Museum and the Museum of Popular Cultures as well as a Central Public Library and the Historical Archives of the State of Mexico, as well as facilities for research.

The complex

The complex is located on part of the former San José de la Pila Hacienda, which was originally part of a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery called Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. This hacienda was one of the largest in the

Valley of Toluca The Toluca Valley is a valley in central Mexico, just west of the Valley of Mexico (Mexico City), the old name was Matlatzinco. The valley runs north–south for about , surrounded by mountains, the most imposing of which is the Nevado de Toluca Vo ...

with large pasture for cattle and a fresh water spring which only recently has been open to the public. The hacienda came into the hands of the state in 1976. Part of the land, 177,989 hectares, was dedicated to the cultural center. The main architect of the project was Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, who designed the museums. The center was inaugurated in 1987 the three major museums and a collection of art and cultural objects donated by regional centers, museums, libraries, arts festival and individual families. Much of the grounds remain open and contain some of the original hacienda buildings along with about seventy sculptures of iron, bronze and wood. The center hosts a number of temporary exhibits in its museums as well as cultural events on its grounds. The center sponsors an annual event called the FestinARTE, with a purpose of getting children to appreciate the arts, with workshops and performances in painting, music, ceramics, and theater for children. The Tianguis de Arte is held annually at the center. It sells art by state artists as well as books. In 2005, the center held an event inviting about 400 graffiti artists to create mural son fifty meters of screens located in the parking lot. To serve the eastern section of the State of Mexico, a new cultural center in Texcoco called the Centro Cultural Mexiquense Bicentenario was inaugurated in 2011.

The museums

Anthropology and History Museum

The three main museums are the Anthropology and History Museum, the Museum of Popular Culture and the Modern Art Museum. The Anthropology and History Museum is divided into several halls. One is dedicated to ecology, exhibiting the flora and fauna of the State of Mexico. Other halls are dedicated to the pre Hispanic period, the colonial period and Mexico since Independence. There are pre Hispanic tombs and ceramics from different cultural that inhabited the State of Mexico. There is also a sculpture of a serpent with an image of Mictlantecuhtli at its base. From the colonial period, there are sugar mills, and steel armor along with religious items and fixtures from churches. More modern items include a printing press operated by José Guadalupe Posada), illustrations and etchings from José Zubieta and

José Vicente Villada José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

from the late 19th and early 20th century, Andrés Molina Henríquez and Francisco Murguía of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

and

Agustín Millán Agustín Milián Gracía (born August 28, 1958) is a former Spanish handball player who competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics and in the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known ...

and

Abundio Gómez Abundio is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Abundio Martínez (1875–1914), Mexican musician and composer *Abundio Peregrino García (born 1953), Mexican politician *Abundio Sagástegui Alva Abundio Sagástegui Alva (1932–2 ...

from the latter 20th century. In 2004, the museum was remodeled.

Museum of Popular Cultures

The Museum of Popular Cultures (Museo de las Culturas Populares) is located in the former main house of the La Pila Hacienda, which originally was a monastery built at the end of the 17th century. In 1986 it was remodeled by the state government with architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and inaugurated as the current museum on April 27, 1987. The museum deals with the ethnography, handcrafts and folk art and the tradition of charrería in the State of Mexico. It contains a selection of handcrafts from the State of Mexico dating from the pre Hispanic period to the present. This includes a double sided

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...

measuring 5.2 meters tall, the largest in Mexico with over 5,500 decorative elements. Other items in its collection include a suit from 1836,

charro Charro has several meanings, but it generally refers to Mexican horse riders, who maintain traditional dress, such as some form of sombrero, which in Mexican Spanish are called ''sombrero de charro'' (a charro's hat). The charros could also ...

paraphernalia, paintings from the beginning of the 20th century, kitchen items, pottery, traditional Mexican toys, rugs made by the Otomi in Temoaya, Mazahua textiles and wood items from

Ixtapan de la Sal Ixtapan de la Sal is a town and municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is 60 km south of Toluca, the state's capital, and 120 km south of Mexico City by the Federal Road 55. The word ''Ixtapan'' comes from Nahuatl. The ...

and

San Antonio la Isla San Antonio La Isla is a municipality located in the State of Mexico in Mexico. It's municipal seat is the town of San Antonio la Isla. Its name originally was "Techialoyan" or "Tlachialoyan", which in Nahuatl means "place of those who watch". It ...

. Much of the ceramic ware is from

Metepec Metepec () is a municipality in the State of Mexico in Mexico and is located directly to the east of the state capital, Toluca, at an altitude of above sea level. The center of Mexico City lies some 50 km further to the east. The city of ...

. There is also a collection of miniature items called El Tapanco, which are the winners of an annual contest in this area as well as other items donated from private sources. The museum has five permanent exhibition halls. The Casa Artesanal room demonstrated how highland haciendas were typically decorated and includes utensils, napkins, rugs, ceramics, furniture and more. The Cocina Mexiquense is dedicated to the wares of traditional kitchens in the State of Mexico. The Juguete Popular Room is dedicated to traditional handcrafted toys such as dolls, tops, trucks generally made from materials such as paper mache, wood and metal. The toje or cuescomate, is similar to a log cabin. Its original function was to store dried corn and other foodstuffs. Today the structure is used to exhibit items from a former general store. The Charreria room contains a collection of Mexican cowboy gear, much of it antique including arms, saddles, knives and more. Among its oldest pieces are two pistols from 1850. It has two temporary exhibition halls with exhibits from various parts of Mexico. The museum offers guided tours, conference space, book presentations and classes in Mexican handcrafts and folk art.

Museum of Modern Art

The Modern Art Museum building was original built to be a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

. It has a unique circular form with a pink sandstone base and a roof covered with a series of aluminum rings said to look like a

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

. The museum contains seven halls in arranged in chronological order and by artistic movement. It contains works by

Germán Gedovius Germán Gedovius (1867–1937) was a Mexican painter. Biography Gedovius was born in Mexico City in 1867 before moving as an infant with his family to San Luis Potosí. When he was sixteen years old he returned to Mexico City to attend the Acade ...

Leandro Izaguirre Leandro Izaguirre (February 13, 1867 in Mexico City – February 26, 1941 in Mexico City) was a Mexican painter, illustrator and teacher. He entered the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City in 1884. He is perhaps best known for his ''Torture o ...

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...

, Matías Goeritz,

Pedro Coronel Pedro Coronel (b. Jerez, Zacatecas March 25, 1922- d. Mexico City May 23, 1985) was a Mexican sculptor and painter, part of the Generación de la Ruptura, bringing innovation into Mexican art in the mid 20th century. Coronel’s training was with ...

, Doctor Atl,

Francisco Zúñiga José Jesús Francisco Zúñiga Chavarría (December 27, 1912 – August 9, 1998) was a Costa Rican-born Mexican artist, known both for his painting and his sculpture. Journalist Fernando González Gortázar lists Zúñiga as one of the 100 m ...

, Vicente Gandía,

Raúl Anguiano José Raúl Anguiano Valadez (February 26, 1915 – January 13, 2006) was a notable Mexican painter of the 20th century, part of the “second generation” of Mexican muralists which continued the tradition of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Or ...

Alfredo Zalce Alfredo Zalce Torres (12 January 1908 – 19 January 2003) was a Mexican artist and contemporary of Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and other better-known muralists. He worked principally as a painter, sculptor, and engraver, also taught, and ...

, Enrique Echeverría,

Leopoldo Flores Leopoldo Flores (1934 – April 3, 2016) was a Mexican artist mostly known for his murals and other monumental works which are concentrated in the city of Toluca, State of Mexico. He was born into a poor family in rural State of Mexico, but his ...

Francisco Toledo Francisco Benjamín López Toledo (17 July 1940 – 5 September 2019) was a Mexican Zapotec painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. In a career that spanned seven decades, Toledo produced thousands of works of art and became widely regarded a ...

, Francisco Moreno Capdevilla,

Arnold Belkin Arnold Belkin (December 9, 1930 – July 3, 1992) was a Canadian- Mexican painter credited for continuing the Mexican muralism tradition at a time when many Mexican painters were shifting away from it. Born and raised in western Canada, he ...

and

Gilberto Aceves Navarro Gilberto Aceves Navarro (September 24, 1931 – October 21, 2019) was a Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. There have been more than two hundred individual exhibit ...

. The museum also contains a multipurpose room and a bookstore.

Other buildings

Two other important buildings on the grounds are the center’s library and the Archives of the State of Mexico. The library contains a collection of about 60,000 volumes, mostly in literature and history. with sections dedicated to periodicals, video and a computer room. The Archives contain about twenty million documents related to the history of the state from the colonial period to the late 20th century.

References

{{Toluca Buildings and structures in the State of Mexico Museums in the State of Mexico Museums established in 1987 1987 establishments in Mexico