Yalálag: A Mountain Village in Mexico is a 1,854 sq ft bilingual exhibit set in the backdrop of an Oaxacan mountain village that shows the customs, daily life and heritage of the people of Yalálag in the modern day. The realistic environments of the house, La Restaurante, La Miscelanea, Huarachería, school, and market provide authentic opportunities for visitors to "step into" life in Yalálag, and experience a culture that may be different from their own. Real artifacts, artwork, and video collected by museum staff on multiple trips to Mexico featuring the people and places in Oaxaca provide visitors with an even deeper level of engagement and understanding. The exhibit speaks to all children and their families living in the diversity of the modern world.  

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Yalálag: A Mountain Village in Mexico represents one of the many cultural heritages of the visitors of the Museum and serves to engender cultural understanding as it facilitates children’s development. As a temporary exhibit in our How Are We Alike? gallery, this hands-on space allows children and families to compare and contrast Yalálag, Mexico and Houston, Texas in terms of culture, art, history, geography, economics, government, citizenship, and the technology of daily life. By providing children with opportunities to step into the life of a child from a culture that may be different from their own, our goals are to help break down the boundaries of culture in a non-threatening environment, encourage exploration and role-play that places children in settings that they have not encountered before, and promote respect for and a desire to understand people from various backgrounds.

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