The Embassy represents the interests of Mexico and Mexicans in the Commonwealth of Australia and, concurrently, in the Republic of Fiji, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Republic of Vanuatu, and its mission is to promote political, economic, commercial, cultural, science and technology relations and cooperation with the governments and citizens of these five countries.
The Embassy provides information, assistance and consular protection in emergency situations, as well as processing the documents required by nationals who are in the territory of these five countries. It also offers guidance to foreigners who wish to visit Mexico as tourists, students, and businessmen.
The Embassy was originally established in a house located on Mugga Way, in May 1966. For 16 years the Embassy moved to different places in the Federal Capital, until in 1982 it was established between Perth and Darwin Avenues, and Empire Street. Circuit, in the eastern part of the Yarralumla suburb, in a building expressly built to host the Embassy.
The main building can be easily recognized as it is located on a natural terrace just in front of Sterling Park, in which the images of the National Shield on one side and the Aztec Calendar on the other stand out, adorning the main entrance wall to the surroundings.
Access to the office building is through the barred door on Perth Avenue and later through a glass door that allows access to the interior of the offices, where the Consular Section, the ambassador's office, of the officials, the military attaché and the library.
In the central courtyard of the embassy, on the Perth Avenue side, there are two replicas of Mayan lintels that welcome users. The lintels of the embassy are a replica of those found in the ruins of Yaxchilán and represent a ritual scene that illustrates the dominance of sculpture by the Mayans.
The patio is adorned by a replica of the National Shield of Mexico, of Aztec origin, as well as by the Stone of the Sun, also known as the Aztec Calendar. The National Shield represents the materialization of the prophecy of the God Huitzilopochtli to the Aztec people for the founding of their capital city. According to tradition, this prophecy indicated that the capital should be built where they would find, on an islet in the middle of a lake, an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake. This sign would have been found in what is now the main square or Zocalo of Mexico City.
The Stone of the Sun, also known as the Aztec Calendar, is part of the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture in Mesoamerica. This great monument, which is a representation of the cosmological view of the five Aztec worlds, could have served as the basis for a ritual and solar calendar and as a starting point for complex astronomical observations. Measuring about 3.6 meters in diameter and approximately 21.8 tons, this large sculpture is the centre of attraction at the National Museum of Anthropology.
The main entrance of the Embassy is protected by two replicas of stone jaguars, which are an excellent example of the naturalistic sculpture of the Aztecs. They are a reflection of the importance they gave to these animals as symbols of power, bravery and war, confirmed by the fact that the most important warriors were the eagle or jaguar.
The building that houses the Embassy of Mexico was designed by the Mexican architect Alfredo Terrazas de la Peña, in collaboration with other Australian architects and was completed in 1982. The building is considered an architectural attraction in Canberra and a landmark due to its simple and elegant form, smooth white walls, open spaces and a large interior skylight that enhance the feeling of space.
Inside the building is a model of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, the magnificent capital of the Aztec Empire and where Mexico City currently sits. The city of Tenochtitlan was very symmetrical. The “Templo Mayor” was one of the main temples in the Aztec capital, where Mexico City is currently located. Its architectural style dates from the postclassic period in Mesoamerica. Construction of the first temple began in 1390 and it was rebuilt six times after that date. When the Spanish conquerors arrived around the year 1519, the chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote:
"... and since we saw so many cities and valleys populated in the water and on the mainland and other large towns and that road as straight and level as Mexico was, we were amazed and said that it seemed like things of enchantment ... because of the great towers and buildings that they had in the water ... even some of our soldiers said that if what they saw was between dreams ... I don't know how I tell it, seeing things never heard or even dreamed as we saw."
The Embassy has a good number of replicas of famous pre-Hispanic artifacts, as well as a collection of publications containing information about Mexico, both in Spanish and English.
The official residence is a reflection of the Pedregal houses in Mexico City, which is a prosperous residential neighbourhood, in the South of the City, where the greatest projects of the modernist Mexican architect Luis Barragan are located. This residential area was originally developed in the 1940s, on lands that were covered by lava in El Pedregal, this was probably the largest urban development that the city had seen until then. Its original development, including a house and gardens, marked a historical milestone in Mexican architecture. Some of the old modernist houses have been listed as part of the National Heritage of Mexico.
From 1966 to date, Mexico has accredited 14 Ambassadors in Australia:
- Eugenio de Anzorena (1966 – 1968).
- Roberto Molina Pasquel (1968 - 1971).
- José Gamas Torruco (1971 – 1976).
- Donaciano González (1976 – 1978).
- Luis Echeverría Álvarez (1978 – 1980).
- Jesús Cabrera Muñoz Ledo (1980 – 1985).
- Jesús F. Domene (1985 – 1989).
- Alejandro Morales de la Vega (1989 – 1992).
- Enrique Buj Flores (1992 – 1996).
- Raphael Steger Cataño (1996 – 2004).
- Martha Ortiz de Rosas Gómez (2004 -2010).
- María Luisa Beatriz López Gargallo (2010-2013).
- Armando Alvarez (2014-2017).
- Eduardo Peña Haller (2018 a la fecha).
On November 20, 2012, within the framework of the CII Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, the Official Unveiling Ceremony of the sculpture “Chalchiuhtlicue” by the prestigious Mexican artist Jesús Mayagoitia, which was located in the Latin-American Plaza in the city of Canberra, was held.
The sculpture is inspired by the goddess of water, wife of Tláloc, who was found at the foot of the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacán. In the words of the author, Jesús Mayagoitia, who received the Herny Moore Grand Prize in 1987 from the Utsu Kushiga-hara Museum in Japan, the element that defines the piece is water, an elusive and shapeless element that the “Chalchiuhtlicue”, for its divine condition, it can grasp and shape to create a stream that detaches itself from its body in two lateral slopes, accentuating, precisely the water, as the theme of the piece.
The Latin American Plaza, located in the centre of the city of Canberra, was born from an agreement concluded in February 2010 between the Government of the Australian Capital Territory and the Latin American diplomatic representations, which undertook to install a work of art originating in each country. It is worth mentioning that the urban design of Canberra, characterized by the modern architecture of the Australian National University buildings that surround the Latin-American Plaza, now form a harmonious set with the contemporary sculpture of Mayagoitia.
