The main cultural assets of Mexico

Mexico is without any doubt one of the richest countries in terms of cultural diversity, having as its base 68 linguistic groups and more than 300 variants. The country is famous worldwide for its anthropological and social approach to heritage as well as the great diversity of its intangible heritage, which is reflected in their traditional festivities, rituals, costumes and gastronomy, alongside with the remarkable skills of practitioners in traditional crafts such as ceramics, embroidery, weaving, and lacquer, amongst others.

Mexico occupies a preponderant place in the field of world heritage, due to the extensive, varied and vast cultural and natural heritage that it protects in its territory, as well as its size, originality and meaning.

The legal framework on cultural heritage conservation

The great diversity of the cultural heritage in Mexico has borne several challenges in the methodologies for safeguarding, conservation, preservation and promotion in the three levels of the Mexican government (municipal, state and federal). Nowadays, the creation of the Culture Secretary (2015) and of the General Law of Culture and Cultural Rights (2016) has led to a renewed approach in the search to find new and improved ways to achieve a comprehensive safeguarding for the tangible and intangible heritage.

The declaration of a property as World Heritage represents for Mexico and its involved cultural institutions, in addition to pride, the recognition of a permanent effort in the rescue, conservation and safeguarding of these sites with Outstanding Universal Value, for which it is also acquired an enormous responsibility to continue preserving the patrimonial characteristics that made them worthy of such distinction, through the permanent implementation of mechanisms for their integral protection.

The cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List

Regarding its cultural heritage, Mexico has 35 sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, of which 27 are cultural, 2 mixed and 6 natural, ranking as the country with more inscribed sites in Latin America and in the seventh place worldwide. It also has 10 elements on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List and one Centre selected on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices: Xtaxkgakget Makgkaxtlawana, the Centre for Indigenous Arts.

Mexico is a Member State of ICCROM since 17/07/1961

Mandates in ICCROM Council since 1958:

ICCROM Staff since 1959: 2

Governmental Cultural Institutions

• Ministry of Culture
  
• National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature
  
• National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)
  

Museums and Cultural Heritage Institutions

• Anthropology National Museum
  
• National Museum of Virreinato
  
• Fine Arts Palace Museum
  
• National Museum of Art
  
• Modern Art Museum
  
• Architecture National Museum
  
• National Museum of Folk Cultures
  

* ICCROM reserves the right to moderate the content provided by Member States for country profiles to ensure that they remain within the scope of ICCROM’s mission and pertinent to cultural heritage. However, ICCROM does not take responsibility for the accuracy and validity of the content supplied. The ideas and opinions expressed are those of the Member States.