Changes Underway in the “Maya: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth” Exhibit

If you’ve visited the Museum of Us recently, you may have noticed some changes underway in the “Maya: Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth” exhibit. What you’re seeing is our Decolonizing Initiatives in action.

Maya peoples are still here today and thriving, and they continue to maintain their cultural heritage. Yet, this outdated exhibit presented them as a civilization frozen-in-time and a people of the past. This one-sided narrative of the exhibit elevates Euro-American academic perspectives above the voices of the Maya community relative to their past, present, and future.

With support from the Moxie Foundation, the Museum of Us is consulting with Maya community members about the content of the exhibit, and their cultural resources contained within it, so that we can reframe the exhibit with their expert guidance. We hope to redress the harm caused by the exhibit’s existing portrayal of Maya peoples and our role in perpetuating it.

Work on this exhibit will be happening intermittently over the next few months. We appreciate your patience and understanding of partial exhibit closures as this work is done.

Click here to learn more about Decolonizing Initiatives at the Museum of Us.