“Gifts from the Monkey Gods: Maya Crafts from Guatemala ”

Familiar to most people because of television specials and magazine articles about their Classic civilization and its mysterious tenth century collapse, the Maya people have not disappeared. Millions continue to live in twenty-first century Mexico and Central America. The Maya core area has always been Guatemala, where the people managed to preserve their culture in the face of the Spanish conquest, creation of an independent country, recent civil war, and the modern world. "Gifts of the Monkey Gods" presents intriguing wooden masks, spectacular hand-woven clothing, delightful wooden sculptures, and other crafts made in Guatemala during the last century. Inspiration from the Monkey Gods, supernatural patrons of artisans during the Classic period, permeates the Maya works on display. This exhibit will be at the Museum of Anthropology September 12 – May 25, 2007.