Hace mucho calor. It’s REALLY hot. Hot as in 39°C/ 102°C every day. It’s tempting to simply stay inside and read, punctuated by dips in the pool, but we’re down to our last 3 weeks in Mérida and it would be a shame not to explore a few more of the sites here in the city centre before we make our brief return to Canada.
To that end, today we walked to the MACAY (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatán/Museum of Contemporary Art Athenaeum of Yucatan) to explore the art collection housed in the old building known as the Peninsular Athenaeum, constructed between 1573 and 1636, and given its current French neo-Renaissance exterior style in 1916. Prior to opening its doors on April 29, 1994 as an art museum, the building served as an annex to the Cathedral of San Ildefonso, housing a clerical college and seminary, an arts teaching centre, the Archbishop’s Palace, chapels, and a religious hostel, and then government offices for a few years.
Most of the art is exhibited in 15 galleries on the second floor, 8 of which are permanent exhibits.
The current temporary exhibition featured 105 graphic art pieces, by a total of 97 different Mexican artists. Each piece was selected not only for its intricacy, but also for its message.
The title of this piece is ¡Shhhhh! Ya no reaccionan la situación los ha sobrepasado. (Shhhh! They no longer react, the situation has surpassed/gotten the better of them.)
In the first floor courtyard are large sculptures. My favourites were those by Rodrigo de la Sierra, who goes by “Timo”. Their whimsy makes me smile.
Between the MACAY and the Cathedral is the newly refurbished Passaje de la Revolución (Passage of the Revolution), which is currently home to a gorgeous temporary exhibit called the Camino de Flores (Path of Flowers). Timo’s pilot sculpture is a permanent fixture here, so was incorporated into the floral display.
We walked through the display at night, when the mood is quite different (Ted’s video below).
At night, the coloured lights and video screens enhance the display. In the daytime, the natural colours of the flowers are what is spectacular.
It was a fun couple of hours of both calor (heat) and color (colour) for us in Mérida today… and a return to the pool as soon as we got home!
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
You are an ambassador For every place you visit!! Are the museums air conditioned?? Love Ted’s video. Hard to imagine people in shorts 🤢🤢🤢 What do they do for Easter? Much love
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Oh yes, there’s A/C in the galleries and (most) museums. That’s a big attraction mid-day!! Easter Will be quiet (for us) – it’s a religious holiday here. No bunnies or hooplah.
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The Polish service is 6:00 am and they celebrate outside of the church with lots of noise ! Anna was telling me about all the Religious Hoopla ! Noisy!
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Beautiful artwork and such gorgeous flowers! I don’t know about the heat though. It’s been 30c here in Florida and I find we go out in evenings, unless you are John who golfs! Still can’t get in pool (soon), but will be back in Canada this time next week, so indoor pool for me! Enjoy your last few weeks and then where? BC? Have fun!
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