BONAMPAK

Bonampak, Mayan words for "painted walls," is the site of an ancient Mesoamerican mural in Chiapas, Mexico, the current day site of the Zapatista struggles for justice for Mexico's indigeneous people.These ancient Mayan paintings depict both the courtly and warlike world of Mayan nobility. King Chaan-Muan (reigned AD 775—792) commissioned the project at the end of the 8th century. In a three-chambered palace, the ceilings and wall interiors are the most complete indigenous paintings in the New World. The first room displays the presentation of a royal heir to Chaan-Muan and a celebration with music and dancing in the heir’s honor. Warriors go into battle and prisoners are sacrificed in the heir’s honor under the command and supervision of the king in Room Two. Finally, Room Three records the lords and governors drawing their own blood in a continuation of sacrifice. The mural was never completed and evidence shows that the kingdom of Bonampak was abandoned as widespread warfare consumed the region.

Pictured here is an image found in Room One: the heir being presented with his destiny and his legacy as if being presented with the site was enough for the child to assume ownership. Post-creation, a Mayan enemy entered the palace and gouged the heir’s eye out—as if to prevent him from retaining his kingdom. The mission of La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra is to restore the Mayan vision by uncovering his past. The Bonampak image depicted in this mural represents the re- presentation to the descendents of the Mayans, symbolic eyes to see their land, through the act of giving them knowledge of their history.