Guatemala: Past and Future

Date
May 2007
This exhibition, organized by the IDB Cultural Center in homage to Guatemala - site of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank- has been conceived with an optimistic view toward the future while learning lessons from the past. It is likewise a propitious opportunity for the IDB to offer a tribute to the Maya Nation, recognizing its significant cultural legacy, for young Guatemalans who must now take up their country¿s hopes and goals, and meet their expectations. Guatemala: Past and Future comprises six modules organized in chronological order.The first module focuses on the legacy of the Mayas, a people who lived in Mesoamerica for thousands of years and reached spectacular magnificence around 900 AD. The evidence of its culture and its greatness is reflected in many discovered cities, mainly in what is today Guatemala, Southern Mexico, Honduras and Belize, built at the pinnacle of their development; and in wonderful artifacts in the possession of many Guatemalan museums and institutions worldwide, including Washington¿s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and Dumbarton Oaks.