Unseen Photos of Maya Life From 90 Years Ago to Go on Display in Quintana Roo

Dzula, Quintana Roo — More than 60 photographs taken 90 years ago in Maya communities of Felipe Carrillo Puerto will go on display starting July 30 at the Casa de la Memoria in the town of Dzula, as part of events marking the 179th anniversary of the Caste War.

The images, recovered from the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands, were captured in 1936 by Danish anthropologist Helga Larsen during her stay in Xcacal, now Tixcacal Guardia. They depict everyday life during the traditional festival honoring the Virgin of the Conception, a patron celebration still held in the community.

Ángel Sulub, who announced the initiative during the Mercadito Bazar de Uyóolche, said the photographs show aspects of community organization, ceremonial practices, and the resilience of the Maya inhabitants at that time. He noted that many of Larsen’s hundreds of photographs are scattered across museums and universities in Europe and the United States, and that most had remained unknown to the Maya communities themselves.

“This recovery represents an opportunity to recognize people, families, and events that are part of their history,” Sulub said.

The exhibition also includes newly rediscovered images of Maya leader Lieutenant Evaristo Sulub, previously known mainly through publications such as Alfonso Villa Rojas’s Los Elegidos de Dios. The new photographs offer more detailed views of the leader.

Dzula was the site of one of the last uprisings related to the Caste War, a conflict that shaped the region’s history.