A traditional Navajo hogan was the inspiration for the design of the eight-sided building housing the museum. Exhibitions in the main gallery change twice a year and include contemporary and traditional American Indian art, with an emphasis on the Southwest. A second gallery presents contemporary one-person exhibitions. History and Culture Museums History and culture are deeply intertwined. Culture is the substance of a people or peoples, their art, beliefs and institutions.
History is the recording of that substance for all time and a reflection of how it has evolved.
Nowhere is the intertwining of history and cultures more evident than in New Mexico. The following museums will give you a glimpse of time and the relationships of its people. The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, holds over 10 million individual items in its archaeological , ethnological , archival, photo and skeletal collections. The collections come from all parts of the world, but have a Southwestern emphasis. The Maxwell is the only museum in the Southwest whose mission encompasses the entire history of mankind and culture around the world.