The Huichol people offers different types of offerings or “playthings” to the gods, which have two purposes: on one hand, they aim to entertain and bring joy to the gods, on the other, are representations of the requests of the people and a reminder that they must keep performing their functions.

From the set of pieces assembled in this exhibition, we will also reflect on how, since 50 years ago, these expressions have transformed from a ritual and ceremonial nature, to an artistic and commercial manifestation, either in the form of complex paintings crafted by the mara’akáme (shaman), or Huichol artists of great transcendence abroad, or in the form of diverse decorations and props that are sold as souvenirs.

We can see several of these metaphoric toys, such as the decorated arrows that are gifted to the Sun god or Tawexíka, who sheds his rays in the form of arrows that he shoots to the Earth; the tsikuri or “magic sight”, wrongly called “eye of god”, yarn rhomboids that represent the worldview of the cosmos and serve as protection, among others that are part of the work of the mara’akáme and artist Eligio Carrillo Vicente, an important exponent of the classical Huichol style, who depicts his shamanic visions, the rituals or mythical passages of the Wixárika tradition in his colorful yarn paintings, with a profuse and deeply symbolic decoration.