The House of Culture today opened a cultural exhibit on the Maya. It is entitled "The life of a Maya family: ancient and modern and it is targeting students who are currently in the African and Maya history project course which was launched last year. Froyla Salam explains that the exhibit complements the new syllabus as it gives students a first hand experience of a part of the Maya culture.
Alfonso NobleReporting,
Armed with notebooks and pens, std. 5 and 6 students of St. Mary's Primary School viewed the House of Culture's latest exhibit depicting the life of the Maya family: ancient and modern. Froyla Salam, curated the exhibit and she says the main goal is to create greater awareness of this Belizean culture through the African and Maya history project.
Froyla Salam,
"The whole point of that project is to instill greater positive identity in our concept as a Belizean people and 80% of Belizeans either have African or Mayan or a combination of both heritage so this exhibition is just creating further awareness and appreciation that the ancient civilization is still alive to a certain extent in certain aspects of rural lifestyle."
But while it may still be alive, exposure to it is minimal. The students say that coming to the exhibit gives them the opportunity to experience through the depictions, clothing and pictures what it is to be Maya.
Allan Anderson,
"We are here to see the Mayas did for us in the past and what they did for us today."
Latifa Sutherland,
"According to what we come here for, is about the Mayas and the ancient mothers of African exhibition. The teachers will tell us some of the this they really know about the Maya and African but when we come here we learn things that we never know before. We are able to see this because they have it in the displays."
Eli Ayala,
"We will be learning a lot more about our Mayan history and we will get it in our PSE too."
Catherine Sandoval,
"Schools wouldn't have the correct material to show you, only pictures."
Froyla Salam,
"Students need to know from an early beginning where history comes from, Belizean history, and in a way I try to show visually how that history relates to them today."
The exhibit runs until March.
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