HISTORY OF THE mCINY

The creation of the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York can be traced back directly to the most comprehensive and celebrated exposition of Mexican art ever presented. The exhibit was inaugurated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in October 1990. It attracted more than 700 000 visitors, qualifying it as one of the most important exhibits ever held at this museum, second only to the Tutankhamun show. The grand exhibit "Mexico: Splendor of Thirty Centuries," which, throughout little more than a year, was presented in New York, San Antonio, and Los Angeles, served as a testimonial to both: the profound creative tradition that has nourished Mexico since pre-Columbian times and the thriving state of contemporary Mexican Art. For many visitors, the existence of such tradition and the current art boom was looked upon as a discovery; for the more informed visitors, a confirmation.

The successful exhibition at the MET, combined with a great variety of other artistic and cultural activities which took place simultaneously in New York, sparked a tremendous interest in the richness of our culture, which the private and public sectors of Mexico and the United States seized to project a new image of Mexico abroad. Together, they burst into New York's cultural, political, social, and media arena, opening the door to a whirlwind of Mexico's cultural heritage upon which a new image of Mexico could be built.

Since its incorporation as a tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation in June 1991, The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York has aimed to increase awareness, understanding, and appreciation of Mexico's rich traditional and contemporary culture, language, art, and history among the general public of New York.

Roberto Campos-Ruiz