All sessions take place at the Royal Academy of Arts from 10am to 1pm. Ticket prices includes exhibition entry and a drink.

Saturday 1 February, repeated on Saturday 8 March
Reading the Aztecs
Focusing on ancient Aztec manuscripts or ‘codices’, these interactive sessions provide an opportunity to learn more about the Aztecs’ distinctive visual language. We look at how the Aztecs recorded their history, myths and everyday life, and consider how these books were originally used. After a talk about the historical background of codices, we learn how to decipher Aztec glyphs, and even write some things of our own. Sessions are led by Joanne Harwood, University of Essex.
Tickets: £15/£10 (students)

Saturday, 15 February
A Chocolate History
Chocolate, known to the Aztecs as ‘ the food of the gods’, was immensely important in the Aztec world. Like gold, cocoa beans were used as currency, and the drink made from them was reserved to the highest echelons of Aztec society - royalty, priests and warriors. This focus morning examines the early history of chocolate, and considers its influence on writers and artists. Speakers include food writers Sara Jayne-Stanes and Paul Richardson, and novelist James Runcie, author of The Discovery of Chocolate.
Tickets £17/£12 (students)

Saturday 1 March
Parallel Histories: Spain and Mexico
This study morning examines two perspectives on the history of the conquest of Mexico. Professor Sir John Elliott, Regius Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Cambridge presents the Spanish viewpoint, and Professor Warwick Bray, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Archaeology, University College London discusses the Aztecs’ accounts of the conquest. Adrian Locke, curator of Aztecs, chairs the event.
Tickets: £17/£12 (students)

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