MUJAM, Where I Can Play With All the Antique Barbies I Want!

MUJAM

Museo Jugete Antiguo

(Antique Toy Museum)

MUJAM website link

MUJAM was one of my favorite places to go in Mexico City. It was right near where I lived and I loved walking there whenever I was bored. Inside the museum there are all kinds of antique toys, things I had never seen before or knew about. I wanted to post this blog since I have some really great photographs of the museum, inside and out. I have been to dozens of museums in DF and MUJAM is the first museum that I recommend to friends who come to Mexico City.

On the outside of the building, there is a huge mural with all kinds of artwork. It is some of the best graffiti  and mural artwork I have seen, and really stands out. The artists are John Grider and Mike Fitzsimmons from Minneapolis in the US. Both artists work together at Minneapolis' Broken Crow, and have done murals all over the world and have done a lot of international artwork. The colors are bright and the characters are so creative. It is something that really grabs your attention when you pass it. 

 Photo by Chanfle Cerqueda

 Photo by Alyssa Denne 

 Photo by Alyssa Denne 

 Photo by Alyssa Denne 

Photo by Alyssa Denne 

Inside the museum, you can find antique toys from the 19th and 20th centuries. Roberto Shimizu is the founder and owner of MUJAM, a well known Mexican artist and architect, of Japanese descent. He is the founder of MUJAM, and over a million pieces that are a part of the collection, are from his own personal collection of antique toys. The toys inside the museum are from all over the world. Many of the toys were collected by Shimizu from the past 50 years. Shimizu has been collecting toys since his childhood, when his parents sold toys and food that were brought in from Japan. He collected many from other antique stores and as gifts.

MUJAM also hosts artwork and art shows from other artists in Mexico and from all over the world. I also went to a concert that was held there after the museum was closed. MUJAM also participates in Mexico City's 'Noche de Museos' (Night of Museums), where many museums around the city open their doors after hours and allow visitors inside, and often have an event. Admission to the museums for Noche de Museos is free as well. Here is a link to the blog of Noche de Museos.

  Photo by Alyssa Denne

  Photo by Alyssa Denne

  Photo by Alyssa Denne

 Photo by Alyssa Denne

 Photo by Alyssa Denne

One of my favorite parts of the museum, were the barbies. The collection of Barbies in MUJAM is massive and as a Barbie fan, when I was a kid, it was really awesome to see all the different kinds they had. There were alien Barbies, zombies, mermaids, pretty much anything you could think of. If I would have know they had dead zombie Barbies, I would have been playing with those when I was younger, not the original Barbie and Ken. Besides the Barbie collection, I loved all of the Star Wars collections! 

 Photo by Alyssa Denne 

 Photo by Alyssa Denne

Photo by Alyssa Denne 

MUJAM is a great place to visit if you are visiting DF and even if you live there and have not been there yet, you definitely need to make a trip. They have all kinds of events and showings, and even if you are just going to look at the toys, you will find something you never thought you would find. 

Here is a video of MUJAM that was directed and produced by Alba Mora Roca. This video is about MUJAM and the owner Roberto Shimizu.