Overview

• The award ceremony was presided over by INBAL director Alejandra de la Paz and José Luis Paredes Pacho at the Sala Manuel M. Ponce in the Palacio de Bellas Artes on July 22.
• Laureates María Teresa Rojas Rabiela, Leonardo López Luján, Antolín Vázquez Valenzuela, Vicente Quirarte Castañeda, Héctor Gerardo Tamez Domínguez and Juana Bravo Lázaro were honored across linguistics, fine arts, history, social sciences and popular traditions.
• Speakers urged Congress to secure sustained budgets and legal safeguards for heritage bodies such as the INAH to bolster research and conservation efforts.
• María Teresa Rojas Rabiela warned of the critical deterioration of Xochimilco and Tláhuac chinampera wetlands and demanded comprehensive preservation plans beyond cultural spectacles.
• Laureates highlighted the need for generational renewal by calling for expanded training and job opportunities for emerging scholars and indigenous practitioners.