Exhibitions
Divination, art and esotericism at the MUNAL
Under the Sign of Saturn: Divination in Art is an exhibition presented at the National Museum of Art (MUNAL) in the Historic Center of Mexico City. Open from May 14, 2025, to February 2026, the exhibition brings together more than 200 pieces—including paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, prints, graphic documents, and textile art—that explore the presence of divination practices in art. The exhibition offers a broad perspective on disciplines such as spiritualism, cartomancy, palmistry, and astrology, as well as on related expressions.
associated with the occult and so-called "cosmic terror".
The exhibition takes as its starting point the astrological chart that André Breton (1896-1966), founder of Surrealism, drew up for the poet and writer Jean Schuster (1929-1995). Today, this document is part of the MUNAL collection thanks to his donation. Using it as a starting point, the exhibition proposes a new interpretation of the museum's collection, establishing links with works related to the arcane dimensions of the occult sciences and articulating a constellation of images inspired by esoteric tradition.
The curatorial team (David Caliz, Adriana Escobedo, Jimena Arellano, Roberto Carlos Hernández, Karla Daniela Ortiz, and Ana Cristina Varela) organizes the exhibition into four thematic sections. The first, dedicated to necromancy and spiritualism, presents works that allude to communication with the afterlife, séances, and representations of mediumistic figures. The second section focuses on clairvoyance, especially cartomancy and palmistry, showcasing tarot interpretations, portraits of fortune tellers, and historical material associated with these practices. The third section addresses astrology, exhibiting astrological charts, representations of the firmament, and even a birth chart donated by André Breton. The final section, dedicated to cosmic horror, brings together works that reflect on the unknown, the immensity of the universe, and existential anxieties linked to the incomprehensible.
Under the Sign of Saturn stands out for its reinterpretation of the MUNAL collection through an esoteric lens, revealing new perspectives on historical and contemporary pieces. This exhibition invites the public to recognize that divinatory practices, far from being mere superstitions, have functioned as symbolic languages capable of shaping cultural, philosophical, and artistic imaginaries throughout history.
“I came into the world under the sign of Saturn: the planet with the slowest revolution, the star of doubts and delays...”
- Walter Benjamin, The Origin of German Tragic Drama , 1922
