Aguascalientes has a large number of museums, which preserve an important part of the local, national and international culture.
The themes of these places are very varied, in which it is possible to know, observe and listen first hand to historical pieces representative of various artists throughout time.
The following are the museums in the State of Aguascalientes that you must visit:
The neoclassical building, built in 1903, was designed by the self-taught architect Refugio Reyes Rivas as the headquarters of the Catholic School.
Opened to the public as Museum of Aguascalientes in October 1975, on the occasion of the IV centenary of the official founding of the city of Aguascalientes.
It has five permanent galleries exhibiting works by Saturnino Herrán -the most Mexican painter and the most Mexican of painters-, Gabriel Fernández Ledesma, Juan de Mata y Pacheco, Jesús F. Contreras and Francisco Díaz de León, among others; and two temporary galleries that offer itinerant exhibitions of contemporary national plastic art.
Its facilities host conferences, concerts, book presentations, courses, workshops and diploma courses.
This museum is dedicated to the dissemination of funerary art, as well as the traditions and iconography of death in Mexico, which makes it a unique museum of its kind.
This particular artistic and cultural precinct was founded on June 19, 2007, with the donation of the personal collection of the master engraver Octavio Bajonero Gil and under the auspices of the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes.
The National Museum of the Dead is not a gloomy and sad place, but rather it rescues the renewed and festive personality of traditional Mexican expressions, such as the infallible Day of the Dead.
In the exhibition halls there is a historiographic tour of death, beginning with the pre-Hispanic underworld and culminating in contemporary times.
This museum houses hundreds of original prints by the eminent Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada, creator of the iconic La Calavera Catrina.
This was originally a satire of the social tendency of the nouveau riche mestizos to deny their own cultural heritage by imitating the Mexican and European Creole social elites in their mannerisms and dress.
Posada died an old man in 1913, relatively impoverished and forgotten by society.
However, in the 1920s, the French artist Jean Charlot, who visited his friend the muralist Diego Rivera and discovered Posada's engravings, initiated a new international appreciation of his work.
Chalot popularized the images in books and essays abroad. Since then, Posada's images have become famous in Mexico and around the world.
This beautiful building combines in its architectural beauty, the neoclassical, neo-Gothic and art nouveau style and has its origin during the second half of the nineteenth century, when it was the home of the Ponce Cano family.
Years later, Refugio Reyes restructured and embellished the property's patios.
In its rooms you can appreciate documents, articles and works of art that give account of different social and political stages of the country, from prehistoric times to the present.
Currently it is possible to appreciate in this place, animal fossils, samples of cave paintings, vessels, arrowheads, necklaces, human skulls and other vestiges that have been found in the territory of Aguascalientes.
The Museum of Contemporary Art opened its current facilities on June 9, 1998, in what used to be the old warehouse known as "El Número Ocho" (Number Eight).
El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo inauguró sus actuales instalaciones el 9 de junio de 1998, en lo que era el antiguo almacén conocido como "El Número Ocho".
The work of Enrique Guzmán (1952-1986), three-time ENAJ winner, widely admired and followed in our country and abroad, is shown as a permanent exhibition.
Today the Museum of Contemporary Art has more works awarded by the ENAJ and its collection has been enriched with collections, such as Tina Modotti's photography, thanks to donations and acquisitions made by the Cultural Institute of Aguascalientes.
The museum space was inaugurated on January 29, 2016. and links different contemporary artistic practices through various exhibitions, exhibitions, seminars, artistic projects.
It is located in the complex of the old railroad workshops; the warehouses that constitute it were once the mechanical carpentry workshop, where molds and models for the manufacture of brake shoes were built.
Now it is a precinct created for Contemporary Art and its diverse expressions.
The museum's mission is to preserve the architectural and historical heritage of the old locomotive workshops, as well as to bring them closer to the community and disseminate what they represent for social, economic and industrial development.
Descubre Museo Interactivo de Ciencia y Tecnología is a museum that focuses on new information technologies, entrepreneurial culture and innovation.
The museum has established itself as an interactive, playful and creative space that seeks the integration of Mexicans, especially children and young people.
Inside the museum there are five permanent exhibition rooms and one room dedicated to temporary exhibitions. It opened its doors to the public on November 20, 1996.
The museum has five rooms. In them, children can participate in activities such as being radio and television presenters and building their own robot.
It has an IMAX screen to show large-format films.
La Estación Theme Park, which includes the Old Station and the Railroad Museum, is a historical and recreational complex located in the city of Aguascalientes.
The State of Aguascalientes was once an important railroad hub in Mexico, due to its central location between important cities.
It was home to some of the largest workshops and warehouses in Latin America. When the workshops ceased their activity, the boilers, the machinery and the old workshops were abandoned. They were rescued by the city council and converted into a museum area and theme park.
It has four exhibition halls. The work of Manuel Manila Posada is regularly exhibited.
Eduardo Escárcega Rangel, owner of this independent cultural space and art collector, contributes to the formation of "human fulfillment and motivates reflection and the creation of values" in the entity through aesthetic enjoyment.
Although its façade is small and simple, its interior is spacious and fresh, allowing the visitor to walk through its rooms guided only by the works, the lighting and the echo of its walls.
The museum has 16 permanent galleries exhibiting works by modern and contemporary artists such as Octavio Bajonero, Rafael Zepeda, Jodri Boldó, Patricia Henríquez, Gabriel Macotela, Boris Viskin, Francisco Toledo, Santiago Cárdenas, Alfredo Zermeño, Adolfo Mexica, Vicente Rojo, Benjamín Manzo and Martha Chapa, among others.
On September 12, 2019, the National Museum of Magical Towns (Munpuma) was inaugurated in Calvillo, Aguascalientes. The precinct houses pieces originating from each of Mexico's Magical Towns.
The National Museum of Magical Towns was created with the objective of safeguarding, recovering and preserving the folklore, gastronomy, traditions and handicrafts of the towns that have received the designation by the Federal Ministry of Tourism.
The representative pieces of the Magical Towns of Mexico are grouped in 3 rooms, each one dedicated to a type of heritage: natural, tangible (movable or immovable) and intangible or immaterial.
In each room, tourists will experience the emotions and sensations that the diverse, immense and inexhaustible culture of Mexico's Magical Towns produces.
The Insurgence Museum was the first museum in the state and is located in the large house of the Hacienda de San Blas, a place of great importance for the Independence of Mexico, since it was part of the route of Father Miguel Hidalgo.
It was inaugurated on October 17, 1964 and aims to disseminate the history of the independence movement. It has two permanent halls:
In the first one there are farming, mining and textile instruments that show the work of the hacienda; in the second one there is an exhibition of La Ruta de Hidalgo, a series of photographs, as well as objects of daily life in the past.
In the third room, artists from Aguascalientes are invited to exhibit their work in this space.
It is dedicated to the memory of the miners, where you will find some stones extracted from the mines and even some mammoth bones.
The Museum is located next to the Municipal Presidency of the municipality of Real de Asientos.
In addition, we can find figures of bodies, a mortar and a kind of metate, where minerals were ground and then food, you can also see fossils that were found in a community of Asientos, in 2014.
Aguascalientes is a destination with an interesting combination of charming natural surroundings, tradition and industrial development.
Outstanding for its manufacturing industry, especially textile, electronics and automotive, the state capital has become one of the tourist destinations with the best range of services in the Mexican Bajio.
The country is a land of contrasts. It has it all: a rich history and culture, a warm and pleasant climate, a varied geography, an impressive nature, a tasteful gastronomy and a friendly and helpful population ... in short: Mexico can fulfill all your wishes!
