MEXICO CITY.- More than 5 million daily users of Metro can learn more about cultural heritage conservation and prevention of illegal traffic of cultural goods tasks, conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), through 2 exhibitions mounted during July 2009 at Zocalo STC Metro station.

“Cultural heritage and its Conservation” and “Prevention of Robbery, Looting and Illegal Traffic of Cultural Goods” were inaugurated in July 9th 2009 by Alfonso de Maria y Campos, INAH general director, who acknowledged work done by National Coordination of Cultural Heritage Conservation (CNCPC) to protect historical and archaeological Mexican richness.

These exhibitions allow general public to learn how INAH specialists conduct restoration processes to conserve cultural goods, orienting users about how to ask for authorities’ support in the case of getting notice of robbery, looting or selling of historical pieces.

“INAH works permanently, training Customs officers in Mexico and the United States, as well as Federal Preventive and Judicial (equivalent to FBI) Police agents, so they can recognize historical and archaeological pieces that could be taken out from Mexico” declared De Maria y Campos after acknowledging the cultural work of Collective Transport System (STC) Metro.

Accompanied by Samuel Ayala, STC Metro Customer Service Manager, and Lilia Rivero Webber, CNCPC national coordinator, INAH general director encouraged hundreds of users to become "amicus curiae", helpers in this task, and avoid cultural heritage being looted, to conserve it for all Mexicans.

The exhibition “Cultural Heritage and its Conservation” is integrated by 9 photographs, 4 zoomorphic sculpture replicas and 2 Colonial oil painting replicas that show the “before” and “after” of the restoration process.

“Robbery, Looting and Illegal Traffic of Cultural Goods” is integrated by 16 screens with photographs that show recovered paintings such as “Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise”, “Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi”, and “The Immaculate Conception”, as well as images of training programs imparted by INAH to prevent looting of this cultural heritage.

Francisco de Souza, STC Metro Press Office director, and Guadalupe Lozada, Cultural Heritage coordinator at Distrito Federal Government (GDF) Culture Ministry, also attended both inaugurations.