MEXICO CITY.- At a moment when soccer is placing Mexico once again in the global spotlight, the National Museum of Anthropology is inviting visitors to look much further back in time—to the sacred courts where the sound of a rubber ball once echoed across Mesoamerica.

The exhibition “Tlachtli. Spaces of the Sacred Game” opened on July 2, 2026, at the National Museum of Anthropology, bringing together 24 aerial photographs by Santiago Arau Pontones and 10 archaeological objects that explore the deep cultural, ritual, and territorial meaning of the pre-Hispanic ballgame. The show is organized by Mexico’s Ministry of Culture through the National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, and will remain on view through August 2, 2026.

Through sweeping aerial images, Arau connects ancient ceremonial spaces with the contemporary Mexican landscape. His photographs reveal how ballcourts continue to mark the land, not only as archaeological remains but as traces of a worldview in which architecture, nature, ritual, and community were inseparable.

The title Tlachtli comes from Nahuatl and means “court.” In Mesoamerican cultures, the ballcourt was far more than a sports arena. It was a ceremonial space, a place of competition, cosmic symbolism, and social meaning. Arau’s images capture sites across what are now the states of Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Yucatán, and Zacatecas, showing the breadth and persistence of this ancient tradition.

Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the exhibition adds depth to the cultural programming surrounding the Mundial Social, emphasizing that the conversation should not be limited to soccer alone.





“At a time when the world is once again turning its gaze toward Mexico because of soccer, this exhibition reminds us that the history of the ball in our country began thousands of years ago,” she said. “It is an invitation to look beyond competition and recognize the cultural, symbolic, and historical depth that this ritual has in our original cultures.”

One of the key pieces in the exhibition is the sculpture known as “The Woman Who Played the Destiny of the Stars,” from Álamo Temapache, Veracruz. Made of limestone and measuring 1.43 meters high, the sculpture points to the important social and ritual roles women could hold in pre-Hispanic societies. Curiel de Icaza highlighted the work as evidence that women’s relevance in ancient Mexico extended beyond political life and into sacred ceremonial practices such as the ballgame.

INAH director Omar Vázquez Herrera described the exhibition as a meeting point between archaeology and photography. “Archaeology excavates time, and aerial photography reveals the territory,” he said. “One descends into memory and the other rises above the landscape, but both remind us that understanding heritage is, at its core, learning how to look.”

For Arau, the project began with a reflection on the structure of ancient cities. Many shared a similar layout: a plaza, a seat of government, a religious temple, and a ballcourt. That repeated presence led him to think about the enduring importance of sport, gathering, and the court in Mexican life—not simply as a public space, but as a place where identity and ritual come together.

The exhibition also includes a replica of a rubber ball made by artisans from La Tebaira, Sinaloa, who preserve the handmade production of ulama balls. Ulama is a living descendant of the pre-Hispanic ballgame, keeping alive a tradition that has survived across centuries.

By bringing together photography, archaeology, and living heritage, Tlachtli. Spaces of the Sacred Game offers a timely reminder that Mexico’s relationship with the ball did not begin in stadiums. It began in sacred spaces, where movement, sound, landscape, and belief formed part of a ritual language that still resonates today.

“Tlachtli. Spaces of the Sacred Game” is on view through August 2, 2026, in the Immersion Room of the National Museum of Anthropology, Paseo de la Reforma and Calzada Gandhi, Chapultepec Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City.