Walking the rows of storage at Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC), rows upon rows of gray boxes stare back. Within them lie dolls, statues and garments, all catalogued and maintained in temperature-controlled rooms. Some of these carefully monitored items, though, recently made a trip out of SUAC and up to the Archaeology Center for the “De La Tierra: Indigenous Ceramics from West Mexico, Transcending Time and Space” exhibit, curated by ARCHLGY 134: Introduction to Museum Practice.
The exhibition itself is basically a “big class project,” according to Danielle Raad, curator and assistant director of collections of SUAC.
The 15 students in the course co-curated the exhibit with Raad and other SUAC staff and interns. The five-unit course accepts applications from all majors, with “De La Tierra” team members including students studying biology, anthropology, archaeology, art history and more. The course, which always curates an exhibit at SUAC, has a new focus this school year: textiles.
“De La Tierra” showcases West Mexican ceramics from a “relatively new donation” received by SUAC in 2022 and puts them in conversation with a “legacy collection” which has been in Stanford’s possession since 1953, said Raad. The ceramics themselves range from ancient Mexican cultures to contemporary pieces, according to archaeology major Alana Okonkwo ’26.
Okonkwo, who helped curate the “Tumbas de Tiro” exhibit case, found that working on “De La Tierra” expanded her perspective on “the living stories these objects hold,” she said.
“Our exhibit really tries to bridge conversations on Indigenous West Mexican ceramics across time,” Okonkwo said. “In doing so, we’re able to talk about how practices are taken with people across time, but also, certain practices change meaning.”
Though curating the exhibition, students were connected to the past and also developed a deeper understanding of self. This was the case for Ellie Luchini ’25, who explored “the ways that the deceased are honored in ancient and modern West Mexican communities” with her class partner, she said.
Luchini curated ceramics which explored relationships between religious faith and local cultures and customs. Luchini, who was baptized into the Catholic Church at age 12 and went to Catholic high school, said she had “never really engaged” with her religion the way she did while working on “De La Tierra.” Exploring colonization and faith while curating the exhibit taught Luchini “how communities used religion during colonization to continue practicing their traditions,” she said.
“There are so many ways to explore your relationship with God that don’t rely on what has been taught to you,” Luchini said.
Though spring quarter is rapidly approaching, there is still time to see the “De La Tierra” in person. According to Read, the exhibit will likely be taken down in early May, but in the meantime, the general public can view the exhibit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and by appointment on Fridays.
The exhibit has also been preserved online via a 3D scan of the entire exhibit, available at SUAC’s website. Visitors can also learn more about the student curators of the exhibition via SUAC’s “Meet the Team” page.
A previous version of this article referred to the exhibition case as “Tombas de Entierro” not “Tumbas de Tiro”.
A previous version of this article used the term “Archeology Building” not “Archaeology Center”.
A previous version of this article referred to the collection storage space as an “archive” rather than “storage”. The Daily regrets these errors.