Mayan culture comes to life at Kimbell exhibit in Fort Worth, Texas. August 29, 2010 - January 2, 2011

Fiery Pool:  The Maya and the Mythic Sea

The ancient Maya were surrounded by the sea in all directions, and their world revolved around water.    More than a necessity to sustain life, water was the vital medium from which the world emerged, gods arose and ancestors communicated. Fiery Pool:  The Maya and the Mythic Sea offers a new interpretation of Maya culture based on the sea as a defining feature of the Maya spiritual realm and the inspiration for much of that culture’s finest art.  Over 90 works, many recently excavated and never before seen in the United States, reflect the broad range of media used by Maya artists: massive, carved stone monuments; exquisitely decorated vessels; charming, sculpted human and animal figurines; and lavish good crafted from jade, gold and turquoise. 

If you can’t visit the Kimball Art Museum in person, be sure to visit the Maya exhibit online!

The exhibition is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, and is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Because democracy demands wisdom. Additional support is provided by ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations), a program of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.