Cool Arizona Places: Chocolate, Chili and Cochineal

photo courtesy The Heard Museum

The Heard Museum has a great show that is running through November of 2014.

Explore chocolate, chili and cochineal dye, which will be celebrated through both art and special programs during this exhibit (including a giant cacao tree in the gallery!). These three products of the Western Hemisphere have added beauty and zest to the lives of people around the world. The merits of chocolate and chili should be at once recognizable. 

Cochineal is a red dye made from insects that feed on cactus from the genus Opuntia, and has been prized throughout the world since the 15th century. Cochineal was used to dye bayeta cloth, and the yarns of the cloth became prized fibers for Navajo weavers. The rich crimson dye also colored the paint used in Hispanic retablo and bulto art. These three contributions to the world are in the vein of recent popular books 1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann.

Chocolate, Chili & Cochineal: Changing Taste Around The World

Chocolate joins many other delectably displayed depictions of foods in the Heard’s presentation about several edibles many people might be surprised to know are from the Americas.

The exhibit explores foods — chili, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, avocados, maple syrup, corn, beans, squash — and a tiny insect, the cochineal, indigenous to the Americas that when exported greatly affected other parts of the world.

Sixteenth-century Spanish conquistadors guarded the source of the brilliant red dye derived from cochineal, the tiny insect that feeds on prickly pear cactus. Cochineal was used in historic Navajo textiles and santos from Northern New Mexico, including the image La Divina Pastora by Charles M. Carrillo.

Explore the museum’s rich history as one of the Phoenix area’s first cultural attractions, and see how the museum has grown to be one of the world’s finest destinations for learning about American Indian arts and cultures.

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Location: 2301 North Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85004 • 602-252-8848

Website: http://www.heard.org/currentexhibits/index.html

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