ABU DHABI: A colossal Olmec head from Mexico weighing more than 5,800 kilogrammes from the Middle Pre-Classic period has arrived for the first time in the United Arab Emirates to join the collection currently on display at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Transporting this sculpture from the North American country to the Arabian Gulf, a long journey by boat, “has been quite a challenge, but it shows the great interest we have in showing Mexican culture to the United Arab Emirates”, said Mexico’s Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, María Teresa Mercado, in a statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The Olmec head, which will be on display for three years starting today at Louvre Abu Dhabi along with four other works of Mexican archaeology, “is a significant symbol of our culture and we are very proud to be able to bring these original pieces so that they can be valued, known and enjoyed by the public here”, continued the under-secretary.

The five pieces that have arrived from Mexico represent different cultures, such
as Teotihuacan, Olmec, and Mayan. Some of the works are emblematic, such as the ceremonial mask from Calakmul, because of its beauty and the way it is made of obsidian stone, a material that is very present in our culture and civilisation.

Visitors to Louvre Abu Dhabi will also be able to see an Atlantean sculpture in limestone from the Mayan culture, a ceramic theatre censer from the Early Classic period and an anthropomorphic mask in serpentine stone, cinnabar and shell.

Concerning the preservation of these pieces, the Mexican under-secretary said that ‘there is a whole curatorship by the National Institute of Anthropology of Mexico of all these pieces because it is very important to keep them all these years, since many pieces come from periods before Christ. The institutions are in charge of conserving them’.

The loan of these pieces, the first of its kind, results from an agreement between the Mexican Government and Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2022 to promote culture between the two countries and allow Mesoam
erican cultural pieces to be exhibited in the Emirati museum.

‘We are very happy to be able to carry out this collaboration, which is unprecedented because we think it is the way to bring the people of the UAE, the Middle East and the whole world closer to Mexican culture. I am sure that this will lead to other important exhibitions not only from Mexico here but also from the United Arab Emirates in Mexico,” said Mercado.

Source: Emirates News Agency