MEXICO CITY.- Improving emblematic museums dedicated to the Independence and Revolution, to be enjoyed by present and future generations, as well as launching national and foreign exhibitions, is how the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) joins the Bicentennial of the Independence and Centennial of the Revolution commemorations.

Alfonso de Maria y Campos, INAH general director, informed that the institution works in different precincts of the museums network, specifically in those spaces linked to the Independence and the Revolution, where resource is applied to improve buildings and generating better museographic scripts that enhance archaeological and historical objects and include most recent research.

Among precincts undergoing actualization are Casa de Allende; Casa de Morelos; houses where Miguel Hidalgo lived (“Ex Curato de Dolores” and “La Francia Chiquita”); “Alhondiga de Granaditas” Guanajuato Regional Museum; Popular Arts and Industries Museum in Patzcuaro, Michoacan; “Casa de Morelos” Eastern Morelos Museum of History; the Regional Museums of Guerrero, Queretaro and Michoacan; the National Museum of Cultures (MNC), as well as the forts of San Juan de Ulua, Veracruz, and San Diego, Guerrero.

The rehabilitation of “Ex Aduana de Ciudad Juarez”, in Chihuahua, is noteworthy on its own, mentioned Alfonso de Maria, as it is seat of a new museum dedicated to the Revolution. It was in this city where Francisco I. Madero founded his first provisional government, and INAH will display valuable objects and photographic material from the National Photo Library.

Past temporary exhibitions related to the commemorations were mentioned by the INAH officer: “Jesuitas. Vida y expulsion de Tepotzotlan” (Jesuits: Life and Expulsion from New Spain); “De novohispanos a mexicanos” (From Novohispanos to Mexicans. Portrait and Identity in a Transition Society); “Las huellas de don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla” (Imprints of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla); “Plata. Forjando Mexico” (Silver: Forging Mexico) and “Zapata en Morelos” (Zapata in Morelos).

“Some of these exhibitions were designed to help understanding prolegomena of the Independence and Revolution, and will be traveling around the country and the world. Promoting the image of our commemorations is a priority issue for INAH”, remarked Alfonso de Maria y Campos.

Between September and November 2010 other related exhibitions will be inaugurated: In the National Museum of History “Castillo de Chapultepec”, Amanecer de una nacion: De Nueva España a Mexico, 1765-1824 (Dawn of a Nation: From New Spain to Mexico), will allow knowing about up-to-date versions of causes and effects of Spanish downfall.

In November 2010, El Carmen Museum will open the exhibit “Miradas a distancia. Fotografos de la Revolucion” ((Sights from the Distance. Photographers from the Revolution), where the link between photojournalists and Revolutionary fractions will be presented. This show will be presented in at least 20 precincts around Mexico.

The INAH general director mentioned that in the international level, exhibitions about Olmeca culture will be presented in American and Japanese precincts.