When Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller announced her European tour in 2020, she had a specific mission: to salvage ancient treasures from Mexico scattered all over the world. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s wife has devoted her attention and efforts to a bitter struggle to prevent the looting of her historical heritage, to return pieces of great archaeological value to the country and to prevent major auction houses from selling valuable works to the highest bidder to hand over , and take a stand against major fashion brands accused of plagiarizing Indigenous art. It is a major political, diplomatic and legal offensive that has made the government its most important asset in foreign cultural policy.
The government’s strategy has not been free of criticism, largely due to the president’s incendiary speech when he accused European nations of looting or mobilized the controversial National Guard to recover pre-Hispanic pieces. So far, the offensive has had significant successes, such as the recovery of more than 9,000 archaeological pieces or Ralph Lauren’s decision to withdraw a collection of sacks (jackets) that copied the traditional Mexican serape.
“We had a strong fight against the auction houses and this triggered a whole media campaign,” explains Alejandra Frausto, Mexico’s culture minister, who thanks Gutiérrez Müller for promoting efforts to recover and preserve Mexican treasures. “A movement emerged that triggered good exercises. For example raising awareness of many collectors who had pieces and didn’t know it was illegal. Ritual pieces from Teotihuacan, for example,” he explains. According to Frausto, it is the collectors themselves who, thanks to this strategy, returned the pieces and handed them over to Mexican consulates and embassies until about 9,300 were recovered. “We have also worked with Italy, the United States, Germany or South Korea who have helped us to repatriate many parts and we will add more. We were very aggressive, but we’re not the only ones. We, the countries that have been robbed of our heritage, are united,” warns the minister.
One of the archaeological pieces delivered to INAH by the State Department in September.INAH
Despite this offensive, Mexico lost important battles. In February 2021, Paris auction house Christie’s held the sale of 33 pre-Hispanic works of art, despite claims by the Mexican government, which mobilized its diplomatic apparatus to thwart the bid. Under the title Quetzalcóatl, feathered serpent, Christie’s offered sculptures, vessels, masks, plates and figures from the Aztec, Maya, Toltec, Totonac, Teotihuacan and Mixtec cultures at prices between 5,000 and 500,000 euros. The auction raised more than 60 million pesos (almost three million euros) and left a bad taste in the mouths of cultural authorities, who have faced an avalanche of criticism on social networks and the media for the official inability to preserve Mexican treasures .
It wasn’t the only blow. Last fall, the Gerhard Hirsch auction house in Munich sold 324 items from pre-Hispanic cultures from Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. The government claimed that 74 of them belonged to Mexico, and the Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) condemned the auction before prosecutors. Minister Frausto even sent a letter to the company Gerhard Hirsch Folger warning that the pieces were “property of the Mexican nation”, but to no avail. These treasures were offered at prices between 150 and 100,000 euros.
Mexican diplomacy moved again in late 2021 when the houses Christie’s and Artcurial announced auctions of catalogs of Mexican archaeological objects valued between 200 and 200,000 euros, such as an ax from the Mayan ball game. Authorities’ triumphs include that in September 2021, Italy suspended the tender for 17 archaeological pieces claimed by Mexico. “We have struggled to recover pieces that represent the greatness of our past. The heritage that makes up our identity is not a luxury item to decorate a house, it is not a decorative element, it is part of the identity of the peoples of Mexico. It shapes a worldview, it shapes a way of understanding the world,” explains Frausto.
Mexican Ambassador to Sweden Francisco del Río observes the pieces returned by archaeologist Birgitta Leander’s children on March 30, SRE
The government’s strategy has drawn applause from historians, academics and archaeologists, who celebrate Mexico being at the forefront of this struggle in Latin America. However, some also criticize, for example, the lack of financial resources in the cultural institutions responsible for preserving Mexican treasures. “The idea in the media and in politics is that a lot is being done and undoubtedly good results will be achieved. But it is also intended to cover up other major cultural crises. The INAH has been in crisis for decades and has not improved in this management, many investments are needed to preserve monuments and archaeological sites,” explains Daniel Salinas Córdova, independent archaeologist and historian.
This expert cites as an example the collapse of the roof of the Enclosure of the Eagle Warriors or House of the Eagles of the Great Temple of the Aztecs, one of the great historical treasures of Mexico that collapsed due to a hailstorm last October. Then many voices criticized the cuts made by the authorities, which government critics said put important archaeological areas in Mexico at risk. “There is a lot of conservation talent in Mexico, but the problem is political and economic. There are shortcomings that are not being addressed that are jeopardizing what we already have. Much of the protection of cultural heritage is preventive work and there are signs that it is not receiving the attention it deserves,” explains Salinas Córdova. It also highlights the problem of precariousness that many INAH officers work with: low wages, no benefits, job security or decent contracts.
Minister Frausto defended the cuts and assured that they have not affected the country’s cultural activities or the preservation of historical assets. Despite this, there have been complaints such as that of a company that manages security in Mexican museums and has reported payment delays of at least three months, or complaints from employees of these institutions reporting delays in wages. If those who, through their knowledge and experience, do not have adequate conditions or means to do their jobs, Mexico’s great struggle to preserve its cultural heritage could suffer severe setbacks, López Obrador’s critics say. “To do it well, you need resources,” says Salinas Córdova. There is the roof of the Aztec Templo Mayor as a strong warning.
The plagiarism of indigenous culture, the other great struggle
Mexico’s cultural authorities’ other front in preserving the country’s heritage is lawsuits against the major fashion houses for what they see as plagiarism of indigenous art. The Mexican government has accused the house of Carolina Herrera and its designer Wes Gordon of cultural appropriation for including local Aboriginal designs and identity elements in a collection last year. Carolina Herrera responded by stating that her collection pays homage to Mexico, but the controversy hasn’t stopped.
The critics have taken action against Zara, Louis Vuitton and, more recently, Ralph Lauren. The First Lady, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, has led the protests and demanded that the garments be removed. The Ralph Lauren brand announced the “immediate” withdrawal of reference to a jacket (jacket) made from the traditional Mexican fabric Serape, originally from the towns of Contla, Tlaxcala and Saltillo, Coahuila, but Mexican authorities are demanding that it be redressed for the indigenous communities there.
“There was plagiarism, there was no cultural appropriation, but plagiarism from big fashion brands,” says Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto. “When one designer plagiarizes another, the demands are enormous, millionaires, but these cities were used to stealing everything,” explains the minister. “Now they have not just the accompaniment of the state, not just the Ministry of Culture, but an ensemble that includes External Relations, the Ministry of Labour, Economy and Intellectual Property. All institutions are accompanying these efforts and putting them at the center of communities,” said Frausto.
The authorities insist that they are not closed to cooperation with the big fashion houses, but demand respect. “We are not closed to the existence of ethical creator-to-creator collaborations because there are creative communities that need to thrive economically,” says Frausto.
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