A vibrant breeze from Latin America is sweeping through Marrakech, carried by the wings of a bold new exhibition at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. From February 22 to July 27, 2025, the museum will unveil Birds of Mexico, a richly immersive and symbolic journey curated under the High Patronage of King Mohammed VI. More than 90 rare works and artifacts converge around a unifying theme: birds—timeless symbols of identity, power, and myth in Mexican culture.
Following the acclaim of its previous exhibit Serpent, which spotlighted Aboriginal Australian art, the museum continues its mission of global cultural dialogue. Birds of Mexico delves deep into the presence of avian figures in Mexican imagination, spanning centuries—from the sacred birds of the ancient Maya to the abstract expressions of today’s contemporary artists. Roosters, eagles, herons, and pelicans take shape through ceramics, jewelry, embroidery, and murals, each carrying centuries of spiritual and artistic resonance.
But the exhibition reaches beyond aesthetics. These birds are more than decorative subjects—they’re storytellers of memory and guardians of an ancestral bond between humans and nature. This idea of a sacred connection between people and the animal world echoes strongly with Moroccan traditions, where craftsmanship and symbolic motifs also hold deep cultural weight.
Far from a pre-packaged import, Birds of Mexico is the product of a creative exchange across continents. Mexican curator Juan Gerardo Ugalde Salinas, also a restorer at both the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts, teamed up with Ana Elena Mallet, a leading voice in Latin American modern design. Together, they’ve crafted an original exhibition that blends tradition, design, and ritual.
The collaboration is as ambitious as it is historic. Major Mexican cultural institutions—including INAH, INBAL, and INPI—have loaned pieces never before shown in North Africa. Through the lens of birds, the exhibition becomes a celebration of artistic biodiversity. Feathers, in all their textures and colors, become raw materials for goldsmiths in Taxco, potters in Guanajuato, ceramicists in Tlaquepaque, and textile artisans across the country. These are not just crafts—they’re living expressions of heritage, handed down across generations and continents.
And because art at the YSL Museum doesn’t end at the gallery doors, a wide-ranging cultural program will run alongside the exhibit. Expect panel talks, live concerts, artist encounters, and a special Mexican film series curated in partnership with the Cinémathèque de Tanger. From March 1 to July 26, ten films will be screened for free in both Marrakech and Tangier, thanks to the support of the Jardin Majorelle Foundation.
Birds of Mexico is more than an art show—it’s an invitation to reconnect with nature, with ancestral knowledge, and with one another. It’s a tribute to the cultural bridges linking Morocco and Mexico, a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation, land and sky.
For art lovers, symbol seekers, and anyone who still believes in the power of beauty to unite worlds, this is one not to miss.
