Pátzcuaro museum to hold more than 300 Quiroga-style painted trays and gourds, with shows due in 2027

A museum in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, is to hold more than 300 wooden trays and gourd bowls painted in the style of Quiroga, a municipality in the Purépecha region, Mexico's heritage institute, INAH, said on November 5. The pieces, known as bateas and jícaras, were acquired over 40 years by two U.S. citizens, John and Lise Thomas, who gave them to INAH. They are not on show yet: the institute plans two temporary exhibitions in 2027.

The museum's director, Patricia Terán Escobar, says the Quiroga style is close to maque incrustado, an inlaid lacquer technique of pre-Hispanic origin, and is known for bright scenes of plants, animals and landscapes. She also sees the influence of the gold-leaf lacquer made in Pátzcuaro. Most of the pieces come from Quiroga, though some inlaid examples may have been made in Uruapan. INAH's headline dates the collection to the 19th and 20th centuries, while Terán Escobar places the pieces in the early and middle 20th century.

Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza said the collection will help recognize the artisans who have turned their region's knowledge into "patrimonio vivo" (living heritage).

When visitors can see it

For now, the objects are being registered and analyzed to assess their condition and identify their materials. INAH says two representative selections will then go on show during 2027, one at the Centro INAH Michoacán and one at the Pátzcuaro museum itself, the Museo de Artes e Industrias Populares. It gives no dates, and doesn't say whether any pieces will join the permanent display. INAH puts the museum's holdings at 1,998 objects.

What the museum offers now

The museum occupies the former Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo, one block from the Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. INAH traces the college to the 16th century, though only some walls survive from then, and dates the corner portal to the 18th century. The building later served as a girls' school, a tenement and a meeting place for agrarian groups, and INAH says it has shown Purépecha crafts for about seven decades. The curatorial script, updated in 2009, focuses on the people who make textiles, everyday objects, sculpture and masks.

INAH's own pages differ on the street. The bulletin gives calle Enseñanza, and its Lugares INAH page gives the corner of Arciga and Alcantarilla. Both place the museum in the town center.

What travel advice says

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in advice updated October 20 and still current on November 6, says: "FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the state of Michoacán, except the:" city of Morelia on the routes it names, Federal Highway 15D and the "town of Pátzcuaro accessed by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia, and boat trips out to islands on Lake Pátzcuaro." It also says: "Michoacán is one of Mexico’s most violent states with high levels of organised crime and very little security presence." Quiroga, where most of the pieces come from, is not named among the exceptions, so by our reading the warning covers it. The exception for Pátzcuaro doesn't mean the town is free of risk: the same advice says, "No travel can be guaranteed safe." The FCDO adds:"Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)."