Guatemala’s museums and the Palacio Nacional often host temporary exhibitions of paintings, photographs, and sculptures by contemporary Guatemalan artists. There are privately owned art galleries in the Zona Viva and Quatro Grados Norte. Artists also display their work in the Plaza Mayor and in city parks on Sundays.

Modern Guatemalan art tends to deal with poverty, violence, and other social issues. Many artists also include motifs from ancient Mayan cosmology and myths in their work. The Maya are world-famous for their rainbow-colored textiles, which can be found throughout the city in stores, galleries, and markets. Guatemala City’s main performance venue is the National Theater or Centro Cultural Miguel Angel Asturias, a striking modern building that sits on top of a hill in Zona 4.