MEXICO CITY – A landmark exhibition exploring the connections between South-east Asia and Latin America opened in Mexico City on Dec 4, inaugurated during a milestone state visit by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Based on two 2023 exhibitions by the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and the National Gallery Singapore (NGS) in Singapore, Somos Pacifico, or We Are The Pacific, reorientates the lenses through which people view the world order and the world map.

Shifting the centre of gravity from Europe, more than 300 objects – about 80 from Singapore’s national collection – emphasise the colonial trade route between Acapulco in Mexico and Manila in the Philippines from 1565 to 1815 as foundational to the creation of the modern world.

This link between Asia and the Americas has continued, as Singapore and Mexico celebrate 50 years of relations.

This eclectic show at the Colegio de San Ildefonso – the birthplace of Mexico’s world-famous Muralist movement in the capital’s old town – is the furthest exhibitions from Singapore have travelled.

Mexico’s Ambassador to Singapore Agustin Garcia-Lopez Loaeza, a vocal advocate of the show, said during a media preview in Spanish: “All of us are the result of the Acapulco-Manila galleon trade. It’s an axis in our identities.”

Following the announcement that Singapore would open an embassy in Mexico in 2026 – the first in the Spanish-speaking world and just the second in Latin America after Brazil – he added: “I’ve always believed that diplomacy, especially for Mexico, can only work if culture is part of the equation.”

Most of the show builds on ACM director Clement Onn’s 2023 exhibition

Manila Galleon: From Asia To The Americas,