According to the organizers, the exhibition will open on Monday, June 22 at the Museo del Noreste, in Monterrey and will bring together iconic pieces.
“It is an exhibition that brings together 77 pieces from different regions of Mexico and also with different techniques,” said Rosa María Rodríguez, director of the Museum of Mexican History during a presentation on Thursday the 18th in the capital of the northern state of Nuevo León.
The exhibition arose from a national contest that brought together artisans from all over the country to make pieces with a soccer theme. taking advantage of the situation of the World Cup that the country organizes together with the United States and Canada.
In total, 967 artisans from 29 states of the Republic registered and participated with 877 pieces of various techniques such as clay, textiles, wood, vegetable fibers, metals, wax, glass, miniature art, goldsmithing, saddlery and cardboard.
The pieces
The works revolve around soccer stadiums, balls, fields, but also include soccer legends such as the Brazilian, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé (1940-2022); the Argentine soccer star Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020); and the Mexican Hugo Sánchez.
In fact, historical plays are recreated such as Sánchez’s famous overhead kick or Maradona’s so-called “hand of God.”
“This exhibition comes at a very important moment within the framework of the celebration of the 2026 World Cup and it is interesting to see how this global phenomenon such as soccer can also dialogue with pieces of our cultural identity of Mexican popular art,” said Rodríguez.
A portion of the works that competed were brought to Monterrey and two other exhibitions were mounted, one in Mexico City and another in Guadalajara (Jalisco, west), which are the other two Mexican venues.
The idea of the exhibition is to promote the creativity of Mexican artisans, but through a global phenomenon such as soccer to achieve the dissemination of local traditions among a contemporary and international public.
The “Banamex Popular Art Cup” will be open to the public, starting June 23 until August 9.
