Inhotim - The Open Space Museum

Hey guys,

So a few weeks ago I planned a trip to Inhotim, also known as the Center of Contemporary Art of Inhotim, located in the state of Minas Gerais. Today, Inhotim is the biggest museum in open space in the world. Once you go in, you will understand why.

To begin, no words can describe the feeling I had entering through the big doors that take you into the park. I felt like Alice in Wonderland and a lost girl in a theme park. I am no expert in art, but boy oh boy was it a pleasure for one's eyes to see all the wonders and the history behind this "lost" treasure 50 km away from the capital of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte.

Inhotim's history is very interesting and it goes like this: It was created by former mining magnate, Bernardo Paz, who is passionate about contemporary art. The place where the musuem is located currently, represents the property of Paz. In the 1980's he owned a little farm in this very space and began buying lands because he was afraid that developers would destroy the area. Today, his farm is currently 5,000 acres! Paz then decided to bring his good friend Roberto Burle Marx, botanical garden designer, to create an intire botancial project inside his ranch - Inhotim now has 4,500 plant species. Paz good friend, Tunga, who is a also an artist, persuaded him to collect contemporary art. Eventually, he allowed artists all the space and resources they needed to create larger-than-life works. In other words: each artist envisions their space and the pieces are bought by Paz to keep in these spaces that become a museum for each artist!! Today, Inhotim holds 33 pavilions with more than 500 works by noted Brazilian and international artists, such as Hélio Oiticica, Yayoi Kusama, Anish Kapoor, Thomas Hirschhorn, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Steve McQueen, Cildo Meireles, Adriana Varejão and Vik Muniz.

My favorite artists by far was Tunga's galleries with his True Rouge art piece, Adriana Varejão's Pavillion has a beautiful architectual design and it feels everything is in harmony. Narcissus Gardem by Yoyoi Kusama is very interesting. Através by Cildo Meireiles is a interesting project since its very easy to understand the message the artist is trying to send about the difficulties of life. The observers are invited to go inside the space. Another project by Cildo Meireles is the Desvio para o Vermelho, which entails a red room with all the details in red. To one side of the room, as at the end where everything becomes dark and black where you completely loose your sense of location. Beam Drop, de Chris Burden enjoys playing with physics. A set of beams dropped by a crane from a height of 45 m from the ground within a trench filled with cement. The result is an abstract work, which seeks to show the action of the gesture and the deconstruction of modern art. Finally, the Pavillion by Cardiff & Miller is very interesting since they use sounds to explore the observer's perceptions.

Getting to the musuem is very easy since its 50 min from Belo Horizonte. You can rent a car or use buses from the city that takes you to the museum. It took me a whole day to see most of the musuems and pavillions, however, some were under construction. 2 days is perfect to see the whole musuem. Comfortable shoes and clothes are a must, since the distances from one pavillion to another is quite a walk. I suggest using the golf cars to take you around the farthest pavillions. Restaurants in the museum are really good and I found that the employees were very aware of the pavillions and artists. FYI: in most pavillions a employee will explain to the observer a few important details. For example, in one pavillion, due to light technology, people with dizziness problems aren't advised to go in.

Overall my experience in Inhotim was unforgettable. Most museums I have been to are great, but I felt I didn't get tired from seeing 30 different pavillions in one day because in each gallery there are a few pieces of art and then you take a walk inside the park to the next pavillion. Inhotim was the most contemporary experience a museum has given me so far.