Cochineal: How Mexico Made the World See Red

Date: 

Saturday, May 21, 2022 (All day)

Repeats every day until Thu Apr 20 2023

Location: 

Harvard Museums of Science & Culture—Online

Cochineal, a tiny insect found on certain species of Oaxacan cacti, was harvested for millennia by Indigenous peoples to dye fabrics a vibrant red color. But following the European invasion of the Americas in the sixteenth century, it became a widely coveted, globally traded commodity that transformed textiles and art, and made Mexico a center for technological innovation. Cochineal: How Mexico Made the World See Red explores how this Indigenous technology changed the world, becoming an international symbol of power, while simultaneously disenfranchising its discoverers.

View the online exhibition.