Mexico Photo Collection Project

Ana Paula Dos Santos Salvat

The Mexico Photo Collection Project has the goal of researching and generating metadata for 3,327 photos of Mexican artworks (568) and architectural structures (961) and to thereby create an online art history database. Prof. Dr. Tristan Weddigen created this collection during field study trips to the Mexican cities of Cholula, Huejotzingo, Mérida, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Puebla, as well as to the archaeological sites of Chichen Itza, Cuicuilco, Kabah, Monte Albán, Palenque, and Uxmal. These trips took place from 2014 to 2019 and were partly funded by the Getty Foundation. This research aimed to identify the objects by supplying information about authorship and biographical data, ownership, title, period of production, materiality, technique, dimensions, destruction, or conservation, location of the building or artwork, bibliographical sources, provenance, and inclusion of artworks in exhibitions. The metadata was produced according to a new art historical Conceptual Reference Model endorsed by the International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums (CIDOC-CRM) and developed by the Swiss Art Research Infrastructure (SARI) in Zurich. The database will enable the searching of images and data of significant artworks, architecture, and cultural institutions, providing reliable tools for students and researchers of Mexican and Mesoamerican art and architectural history. The project was completed in July 2023.