IDB opens rare art exhibition to honor the Year of the Maya

“Heavenly Jade of the Maya” brings jade jewelry and precious objects to Washington, DC never before seen outside of Guatemala

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Cultural Center will host the exhibit entitled “Heavenly Jade of the Maya,” comprising rare jade jewelry and objects from recent archaeological discoveries, starting December 19, 2012.

The exhibit will commemorate the ending of the Maya calendar cycle (December 21, 2012) known as bak´tun, and the beginning of a new era. The Mesoamerican civilization studied the movement of the stars for centuries, and constructed a conceptual foundation to explain the relation of the individual and the cosmos. The exhibit displays the creative wealth worn by powerful nobles to keep their rituals and beliefs alive, since the Maya considered jade more precious than gold.

The contents of the exhibition are from the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City. Part of the exhibition project includes financing a technical cooperation to train three Guatemalans in jade conservation in a newly installed laboratory facility at the museum.

WHAT:       “Heavenly Jade of the Maya” exhibition

WHEN:       Wednesday, December 19, 2012  
                  6:15 p.m.

WHERE:     IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery
                  Inter-American Development Bank
                  1300 New York Avenue, NW
                  Washington, DC 20577
                  Tel. (202) 623-1213

The event will be open to the public until February 15, 2013. For more information, please visit www.iadb.org/cultural

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