El Dorado: Between Myth and Eternal Pursuit

The Museo Amparo in Puebla is home to a remarkable exhibition that unravels the myth of El Dorado, curated by María Virginia Jaua. Far from dwelling on the legend of gold, the show invites visitors to reflect on the dreams and obsessions that have defined humanity across centuries. Organized as a visual journey in chapters, it explores the duality between the tangible and the intangible — confronting the light and shadow of a longing that transcended every era and every border.

The exhibition brings together works by 23 international artists, among them Alfredo Jaar and Antonio Vega Macotela, who reinterpret El Dorado as a metaphor for the human condition. It is not a place, but a collective obsession that has permeated cultures from the age of colonization to the present. The works move between matter and spirit, asking whether the true “treasure” lies in wealth itself or in the personal and social transformation the myth has always promised.

María Virginia Jaua underscores how El Dorado endures in the contemporary imagination — from migrants pursuing a better future to the artistic reinterpretations that challenge its legacy. Rooted in the 16th century through expeditions such as that of Francisco de Orellana, the myth now acquires new meaning in a global context. The exhibition does not merely revisit the past — it interrogates the new forms in which society continues to pursue its own “El Dorados“, whether material or abstract.

Having previously shown at the Americas Society in New York and the Fundación Proa in Buenos Aires, the exhibition concludes its international tour in Puebla, enriched by a sustained dialogue between history and contemporary art. Ramiro Martínez Estrada, director of the Museo Amparo, champions a vision that connects this founding myth to the anxieties of our present moment. The works — diverse in technique and perspective — reveal how the obsession with the unattainable has always shaped identities and cultures alike.

“El Dorado: From Utopia to Contemporary Myth“, open to the public through May 19, is an invitation to question our deepest longings. As visitors move through the galleries, they discover that the true gold lies in the capacity to reinvent the pursuit itself. The myth endures — but its meaning continues to evolve, challenging us to look beyond the obvious.