FAMILY | Mosaic Mexico Aztec masks @ British Museum .28th April

Xeroradiograph of mosaic mask

Bring the whole family to the British museum to enjoy digitally designing your own mosaic mask inspired by the fearsome Aztec gods of ancient Mexico. Print your mask to take home, and have your photograph taken wearing your creation to upload to an online gallery. Sponsored by Samsung.

Samsung Electronics logo presents an activity for the whole family based on the history of the Aztec tribes of central America. The Aztecs were a Native American tribe located throughout Mexico. The language spoken by this group was the “Nahuatl” language. This group dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Uses for the Masks included religious ceremonies and death ornaments.

Masks were made with Green or black stone, Wood or obsidian Ceramic- but these were rare and made available Covered in mosaics. Materials used also included: obsidian, gold pyrite, coral and shell Placed on a real human head. Masks that were an important part of Aztec ritual and festival hundreds of years ago are still worn in one enormously important Mexican event today – Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.