“The route of Hernán Cortés” & the Aztec Empire through a mobile app

NEWS


10 December, 2014

“The route of Hernán Cortés” & the Aztec Empire through a mobile app

Last November 28th, the exhibition “The route of Hernán Cortés” , the first in the world dedicated to the figure of the conqueror, opened its doors to the public in Madrid. Visitors can tour the exhibition with a multimedia guide which uses audio and images to summarize the key aspects of colonization and the peculiarities of the colonized Empire. In the exhibition, the intricacies of the New Spain and its distinctive Spanish-Mexica cultural mixing are revealed. The findings of Zultepec-Tecoaque are shown for the first time at the exhibition, and, with them, the story of the Spanish convoy that failed to reach Tenochtitlan is told.

The multimedia guide is now available for rent at the reception, with content in English and Spanish. The content of this guide is also available as a mobile application (app) for iOS and Android terminals. Although it is intended for use during the visit, the app option provides visitors the opportunity to plan their visit better and to “take” part of the exhibition home.

This tool is also accessible to a wide range of audiences, from digital natives to people affected by the digital divide. Thus, the multimedia guide offers two touring option: with a keypad, in which the user selects the number of the content he wants to hear, and another in which access to content is provided via an interactive map. Deaf people can enjoy the guide on equal terms thanks to the subtitling option. Similarly, the app is accessible to blind people thanks to its compatibility with Voice Over (iOS).

Both the exhibition and the multimedia guide begin in Medellin (Extremadura, Spain), the birthplace of Hernán Cortés, a town which draws from the influences of the different peoples who occupied Iberia in antiquity. At the opening of Monday December 1, Martin Almagro, curator and coordinator of the sample explained thus the objectives of this exhibition: “We wanted to show the largest gathering that has taken place among the world’s cultures and which is, therefore, the door to the current global world and all its possibilities”.

The exhibition is provided by Canal de Isabel II Management, with the collaboration of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico and the Royal Academy of History of Spain.