Mureco Presents Janal Pixán Photo Exhibition in Tulum

The Janal Pixán exhibition in Tulum opens its story at dawn in the milpa, where flowers and fruit are gathered for the offerings, and closes it at night among candles lit for the dead.

Titled Janal Pixán, tradición que no muere en Quintana Roo (Janal Pixán, a tradition that endures in Quintana Roo), the show brings 20 photographs by Miguel González to the Museo Regional de la Costa Oriental, known as Mureco, inside Tulum's Jaguar Park. Mexico's Ministry of Culture presents it through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and it remains on view until February 28, 2027.

The timing follows the calendar. Janal Pixán, a Maya phrase meaning "food of the souls" or "food for the dead," is the Yucatán Peninsula's observance of the Day of the Dead, traditionally held from October 31 to November 2, and families across the region are preparing their offerings this week. The exhibition shifts attention from the finished altar to the labor, recipes, and family knowledge that make one possible.

Years among Maya families behind the Janal Pixán exhibition in Tulum

González has built his work around documenting the cultural and natural heritage of southeastern Mexico. According to the museum, this series grew out of several years of fieldwork and time spent alongside Maya communities in Quintana Roo. Its focus stays on people and process: who gathers, who cooks, who teaches, and who learns.

He arranged the 20 images as a single day.

The sequence begins at sunrise and ends after dark, an order the photographer chose so that each stage of the tradition appears where it falls in the work of preparing for the dead.

From the cornfield to the family kitchen

The first photographs are set in the milpa, the traditional Maya cornfield, and in the surrounding forest, spaces tied to the agricultural cycle and to inherited knowledge. Flowers, fruit, and other natural materials for the offerings are collected there. Corn runs through this part of the show as the staple of Maya culture and the base of many dishes prepared for the season.

The story then moves indoors. Families make candles by hand, cook traditional foods and drinks, and set up home altars. González photographs the hands at work as much as the results, and the scenes show knowledge passing from older relatives to younger ones as the tasks get done.

Gourd bowls known as jícaras, flowers, copal incense, candles, and food recur across these images. Each has a role in the rituals of remembrance, and the camera lingers on their preparation and arrangement.

Prayers at the altar, candles at the cemetery

In the final stretch, the photographs reach the altars, the prayers, the offerings, and the visits to the cemetery to honor the pixanes, the Maya word for the souls of the dead. The last frames are night scenes lit almost entirely by candlelight.

The exhibition's case is that Janal Pixán involves far more than setting out an altar. It includes everyday chores, culinary knowledge, ritual practices, and bonds between families and neighbors that continue to be passed down from one generation to the next.

The 20 vertical prints measure 60 by 90 centimeters, roughly 24 by 35 inches, and are printed on Trovicel, a rigid PVC sheet. They are spread along Mureco's corridors and walking paths, so the visit plays out as a walk through the day. Each photograph has a label explaining the activity and the cultural elements it shows.

An offering built to protect Jaguar Park's wildlife

The route ends at an altar made by museum staff and modeled on traditional Janal Pixán offerings. Its food and drink are replicas made from non-edible materials to protect the wild animals living in the park.

The table holds balché, a ceremonial Maya drink fermented from tree bark; relleno negro, a stew darkened with charred chiles; pozol, a corn drink; panuchos; tamal torteado; candied squash; regional fruit; and pibipollo, a large tamal of corn masa and other ingredients cooked in an underground oven and closely associated with the season.

Regional flowers, candles, copal burners, a palm arch, and a green cross complete the offering. The green cross is a fixture of Maya religious practice on the peninsula.

Visiting Mureco inside Jaguar Park

Mureco is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission. The museum describes the show as part of its work to share and value the intangible cultural heritage of Quintana Roo, bringing the public closer to the knowledge and community ties that keep Janal Pixán alive.

The candles in family homes will burn down within days. The photographs and the replica pibipollo waiting at the end of the trail stay until February 28.

Does your family prepare a Janal Pixán altar, and which dish never leaves the table? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.