Mexico’s Museum of Death in Aguascalientes

In a part of central Mexico that doesn’t get many tourists, the Museum of Death in Aguascalientes is cool enough to warrant a trip there to visit.

You don’t have to spend much time in central Mexico to realize this country has a strange relationship with death. Dia de los Muertos—Day of the Dead—is a multi-day event in some towns and cities and in the prime places it has stretched to a week of events. People spend days working on their costumes and make-up. (If you’ve seen the great Pixar movie Coco, you now know a bit of the back story.)

In the city of Aguascalientes you can visit the Museo Nacional de la Muerte, the National Museum of Death. It is run by the university and is a great display of the subject in sculpture, painting, paper maché, wood carving, and more. There’s even a mysterious crystal skull from Mayan times. Rotating exhibits in the newest section house themed exhibitions that tie into the theme.

 

The Museum of Death opened in 2007 as part of the University of Aguascalientes, mostly as a place to house the extensive collection of death-related artifacts and art that they inherited from artist Octavio Bajonero Gil. The collection includes some of his own work as well. Over the years the collection has gotten more thematic and organized to provide insight into Mexico’s history and how that impacted the people’s view of death and dying.

When I first visited more than a decade ago, it was a rather modest museum with a few rooms and a courtyard, but over the years it has expanded into a neighboring building and has tripled its display space. 

What You’ll See at the Museum of Death in Aguascalientes

In most countries a death museum would be a glum and even grisly affair. This one is a playful place though, with most of the skeletons wearing a smile. Apart from a very serious contemporary art section that was mostly dark and glum during my recent visit, the whole museum seems to be suppressing a giggle actually.

You can get the general idea of what you’ll find by looking at the photos here, including a skeleton couple in bed still enjoying foreplay. “That doesn’t make any sense!” our guide exclaimed. Well, skeletons drinking at a bar doesn’t make much since either since they wouldn’t be able to drink anything (or get drunk).

 

But hey, forget the logic. You get skeleton bishops running mass, big family dinners of dead people, a skeleton riding a bike, and a baby sleeping on a skull. Ahhh, good fun.

There are signs and video monitors showing explanations in Spanish (there are not many English-speaking tourists in this area), but you can tell from the displays in the museum that Mexico’s relationship with death is not a new development. Maya and Aztec artifacts show moving skeletons. Day of the Dead posters go back to the late 1800s.

There are stamps and lottery tickets depicting the holiday’s mascot Catrina. That iconic image is attributed to the Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posada, so naturally he gets a few shout-outs as well. There’s a full museum dedicated to him nearby and you can see his original lithographs, with images that kicked off the whole “skeletons in fancy clothing” trend that we now take for granted like it’s been around forever.

This is a museum you can drag the kids to and they won’t whine too much. It’s still not so large that it’s overwhelming, first of all, the kind you can get through in an hour even if you want to see everything.

You can really get schooled in the evolution of death attitudes over the years: the curator has done a great job of organizing the exhibits in a way that really tells a story and shows a transition. Oddly though, our guide this time took us through it backward, saving the folk art and Mayan artifacts for last. If you’re on your own, try to start there instead and end up in the contemporary section. 

There are plenty of whimsical things to look at though if you aren’t into the history so much, from beaded skulls to giant paper-mache sculptures. The museum provides great insight into traditions that stretch back a couple thousand years, but it’s also enjoyable just on a surface level for a six-year-old.

The Museum of Death is housed in a historic building with a nice courtyard on the university grounds. The first time I visited, the courtyard was filled with crazy dead people, life-sized sculpture. Now some of those sculptures have moved inside to make room for a giant head from the opening parade scene of the James Bond movie Spectre. 

Visiting Museo Nacional de la Muerte

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It’s in the historic centro area of Aguascalientes, at Rivero and Gutiérrez Esq. Morelos. As with most museums in Mexico, visiting here is not going to bust your travel budget: it’s only 40 pesos for adults, 20 for students, teachers, and kids aged 12 or less. The latter is a shade more than a buck, the adult price is less than $2.50. 

Aguascalientes isn’t exactly loaded with attractions for visitors, but there’s a beautiful cathedral on the main square, it’s a big party city, and there are some excellent wineries in the state of the same name.

I’ll go back a third time at some point on a long weekend with my wife. Probably not during the huge annual San Marcos Fair though: that attracts millions of domestic tourists and it’s hard to find a place to stay if you don’t have relatives who live there. 

The capital city is two hours by bus from Zacatecas, less than three from San Luis Potosi or Guanajuato. It also has an airport that gets flights from United and several other airlines. 

Hotel prices are a true bargain here. I could only find three places to stay with a weekend price above $100 (Marriott, Quinta Real, and Fiesta Americana). I found 17 hotels for $35 or less per night. There are plenty of chain ones like Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, and Wyndham if you have some loyalty points to cash in. I stayed at the Alameda Grand this time, which is in a nice historic building and has a swimming pool. The best selection is on Booking.com. 

For more information on the National Museum of Death, abbreviated as MUMU, check out the official website in Spanish.