LaBudde Special Collections at UMKC Libraries holds sixteen facsimile Mesoamerican codices, two of which are currently on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the featured exhibition Painted Worlds: Color and Culture in Mesoamerican Art, on view at the museum through February 8, 2026.
Unfolding Mixtec Histories and Antigüedades Mexicanas from UMKC University Libraries are presented in alignment with Painted Worlds: Color and Culture in Mesoamerican Art.
Unfolding Mixtec Histories: Codex Colombino & Antigüedades Mexicanas (1892)
Miller Nichols Learning Center Foyer | Now through May 2026
Unfolding Mixtec Histories: Codex Colombino & Antigüedades Mexicanas (1892) highlights a high-quality facsimile of an important Mixtec manuscript created before European contact. This facsimile comes from Homenaje á Cristóbal Colón: Antigüedades Mexicanas, an item held in LaBudde Special Collections. The codex tells stories of people, places, and events using images instead of written words. Visitors can view the first eight pages unfolded, allowing the manuscript to be read more closely to how it was originally intended.
Exhibit creation: Stephanie Porrata, Metadata Librarian, and Sean McCue, User Interface Designer, UMKC University Libraries
Antigüedades Mexicanas: Antiquities and Nation-Building
Digital exhibit
This graphic exhibition features the Codex Colombino and Codex Porfirio Díaz, Indigenous manuscripts included in Antigüedades Mexicanas: Láminas. This rare 1892 volume was created for Mexico’s presentation at the Madrid Exposición Histórico-Americana in 1892. Accompanying digital content explores how Indigenous heritage was framed as both a source of pride and a tool for modern nation-building during the Porfiriato.
Exhibit creation: Stephanie Porrata, Metadata Librarian, UMKC University Libraries
