The world of books is a world of chosen ones where the

material obstacles and daily contingencies

are thinned until they vanish almost entirely. The true

reality, say the books, are the ideas and the words they

signify: reality is language.

-Octavio Paz, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe

How does one comprehend the intellectual and sensory world that enclosed Octavio Paz? Is it possible to define the barrier between what has been read, learnt and created? These questions have engaged the minds of scholars and aficionados of the work of the Nobel laureate.

The following is a visual tour of the exhibition “Octavio Paz. Semblanzas, territorios y dominios” (Octavio Paz. Profiles, territories and domains) that the “Pantaleón Panduro” museum hosts in the city of Tlaquepaque, Jalisco. This exhibition is a well achieved attempt to portray Octavio Paz’ intellectual horizon as a reader, writer, critic, teacher and intellectual of the 20^th century.

In it, exquisite books are compiled, from first editions to autographed copies and copies dedicated to authors like Carlos Pellicer, Juan García Ponce and Octavio Paz, of course. Artworks that the author wrote about, as well as those inspired by him, are included. One can also find the magazines he edited and copies of the newspaper his father Ireneo Paz directed.