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Museo Monte Piedad (Banco Ciudad)

July 27, 2018August 4, 2018The Exhibitist3 Comments

Your intrepid museum enthusiast is laid up with a heckin bad headache today, owing largely to sinus pain. As it is a cold, rainy day, fabulous conditions for staying in with fuzzy socks and hot chocolate, I’m going to write this one up anyway.

Finding myself in the barrio of Boedo earlier this week, I checked Google Maps for a museum I might burn a little spare time in. I stumbled upon Museo Monte Piedad, which is the museum of Banco Ciudad, or City Bank, which, if I am remembering the tour correctly, has been in continuous operation for 140 years. The museum is in a very small space, and has been curated with great care. I was the only visitor.

As I have mentioned before, my Spanish is shaky, at best. The docent/staff member/could-have-been-the-actual-curator-I-did-not-catch-her-name did not speak English. But I gathered that I had wandered in at roughly the time for guided tours, and she was game for taking a shot at educating me. The only available English material was pretty bare, and since I was on a tour, I did much more attending to what I was hearing than reading, so please forgive my shoddy memory.

The guide is a credit to her profession as an educator. I understood that school children are the primary visitors, and they must be well-served. She was a very competent communicator, able to convey the meanings of important words not yet in my vocabulary through examples. Top notch.

The museum is located on the 2nd floor (3rd by US reckoning) of this building:

The museum, to borrow a phrase from La Nacion, tells the story of the bank and its relationship with the community, and its exhibits are given historical context. The history of the bank starts with an influx of immigrants in the last half of the 19th century.

The poor who came to Buenos Aires frequently found themselves victims of usury and other predatory financial practices, and Banco Ciudad was founded to help combat these practices and serve the vulnerable population. The bank gave loans secured by any items of value the borrower had with minimal interest. Today, the bank still makes these sorts of loans, but only with two types of items: fine art and precious metals/gems. Two gemologists are still on staff, in fact.

The museum hall includes some of the city history in the late 19th/early 20th century, as the bank was beginning its development–the movement of the population following the yellow fever epidemic, the conditions working class families lived in, and the political and labor movements of the time.

Artifacts from the old days, including a book of early employees.

Next, there is a neat collection of work-related items from the 1910-1930s. As Argentina didn’t really do any manufacturing, this stuff came from abroad.

This beast of a US-made machine is a calculator, which could perform FOUR WHOLE FUNCTIONS. If you were ever bothered by the bulk of your graphing calculator, at least it didn’t require its own table.

There is an area of the museum dedicated to the cafe Biarritz, which used to occupy the space the museum building takes up now. That cafe was a center of art in the working class neighborhood (la peña Pacha Camac, an artistic club in the 30s that I really need to learn more about), an important part of the history of Boedo.

Next up, the bank in the 1940s! The tellers actually got chairs for the first time.

Reforms during the Peron era led to the employment of the ladies.

There’s also a lot of advertisements for auctions held at the bank:

The displays moving into the 60s include examples of uniforms:

Ever the fan of incorporating multimedia presentations/interactive exhibits in museums, I was pleased to see (although too unskilled to use) an oral history archive, given by former bank employees:

There is also a very interesting artifact and display from the bank’s more recent history: the 2001 economic crisis. The government collapsed and panicked bank customers beat the bronze door railing, which is here:

On the whole, it was a fascinating museum! My deep appreciation to my guide, who was fantastic. If you understand zero Spanish, this museum won’t be able to offer you much, but if you can at least get by, and have an interest in local history, it is worth a visit.

The museum is at Boedo 870, a couple of blocks from the Boedo stop on the E subway line. It’s open Monday-Friday from 10am to 5pm. Guided tours are at 1030 and 230 during the school year. Plenty of places to eat or have a coffee right around it, including the Notable Café Margot and Esquina Homero Manzi.

Museo Nacional del Hombre [National Museum of Man]

April 3, 2018April 4, 2018The ExhibitistLeave a comment

Sooner or later, I’m going to get to some of the Big Museums of the city, but I must say, I really enjoy poking around the little gems. It doesn’t take long to go through them, but you can just feel the love, ya know? So today, here’s another wee treasure of culture and anthropology.

The Museo Nacional del Hombre blends right into the neighborhood:

And therein you will find some rooms devoted to the native peoples of Argentina. The first room covers historical objects of and information on ancient cultures.

TL;DR: First hunter-gatherers; widely varying geography in northwest Argentina.

Feline motifs were a big deal and I approve.

Drop spindle, remarkably similar to my own.

The exhibits then move into the contemporary culture and works of different peoples, which I am not going to try to get into too much because this has been a five-day weekend and my brain has melted. This includes the festival of Aréte Abáti, a harvest festival in the Chiriguano Chané community of Jujuy and Salta.

The masks are part of that festival, and, ever the fan of interactive museum exhibits, I was pleased to see a selection of masks available for handling.

Being a textile nerd, I also enjoyed the display and information on the weaving of the Wichí people (Jujuy and Formosa). A plant called chaguar is gathered (not cultivated) and its fibers are woven into a number of goods:

Representative crafts are also displayed from the Mbyá (Misiones region):

I have always been a little nonplussed at the use of “basketweaving 101” as a joke for an easy class, because you cannot do this.

And the incredible silverwork and textiles of the Mapuche (southwestern Argentina):

There is also an exhibit on a culture that did not survive its contact with European settlement, the Selk’nam, who lived in the southernmost part of the country.

During the hain ceremony, male children were initiated into adulthood and shown that the spirits they’ve been taught to fear as children as just adults in masks. The women, in theory, were never taught this, and so I imagine a lot of subtle eye-rolling also happened.

The upstairs portion of the museum currently houses a temporary exhibit (although it’s been in place since last year and has no closing date) called Objetos Poderosos:

Enjoy all the reflections of my Birkenstocks.

This exhibit includes contemporary objects created for traditional celebrations and observances in Latin America:

Afro-American religious figure from Brazil (I *think* it’s Oya, but I’m not 100% sure).

And a small display of very neat works by Graciela Henríquez, including this kinetic piece of awesome:

And once again, a mask-themed interactive photo opportunity:

I borrowed this face for my photo.

And now, the deets:

LOCATION: 3 de Febrero 1378, Belgrano neighborhood

COST: It’s FREE, BABY

HOURS: Monday-Friday, 10-7

CLOSED DAY: Weekends and holidays

TIME: About an hour

LANGUAGES: All Spanish. The Microsoft translator app is best here.

TOURS: Yes, by arrangement, mostly in workshop form–it’s an education-focused institution. Not a casual tour kind of thing.

SWAG: Hey yeah there is! The entry hall has a couple of museum-branded bags as well as pieces of indigenous craft. There’s also a selection of (Spanish-language) books available.

HOW TO GET THERE: Close to the Olleros station of the D line of the subway.

KIDS: Sure! School visits are their jam, so they have tried to make the place kid-friendly.

FOOD IN THE AREA: Lots of cafes within a few blocks.

Museo de Arte Español Enrique Larreta [Enrique Larreta Museum of Spanish Art]

March 24, 2018March 24, 2018The ExhibitistLeave a comment

Among the many small but charming museums in Buenos Aires is Museo Larreta. Bearing in mind that my Spanish is, let’s say, “raw,” my translations aren’t super awesome and might be corrected as I, you know, learn more stuff.

The museum is in the home of Argentine writer Enrique Larreta, and the collection is principally his own, because when super rich people spend time abroad they often return with a lot of Renaissance-era tchotchkes. Larreta was born in 1875 to a wealthy family, wrote a book I understand to be an important piece of Argentine Hispanic modernism called La Gloria de Don Ramiro set in 1500s Spain, was ambassador to France from 1910-1919, and wrote some other stuff that does not get near the play that Don Ramiro gets. It might be charming-sized for a museum, but for a house in the middle of the biggest city in South America (when it was built), it’s damn near palatial.

Incidentally, this is one-third of Larreta's homes. — How palatial? Half-a-city-block palatial.

The museum is mostly items from Renaissance and Baroque Spain, as Larreta was really into the Spanish Golden Age. He brought back furniture, paintings, carvings, and even curtains.

Suit of armor — He’s at the door, reminding you not to touch anything.

How do you even buy Baroque cathedral curtains? Are there cathedral rummage sales? — Curtains from Jaca Cathedral, 17th-century Spain. Velvet, silk, and metallic threads. How do you even buy 17th-century cathedral curtains? Are there cathedral rummage sales?

Oh this old thing? — Arcón [chest], 16th-century Spain, wood and iron, definitely not a coffin.

The museum includes rooms devoted to Larreta and his life, as well. The family’s chapel room, the dining room (where those curtains are located), and the writer’s study are set up for visitor perusal.

Main room, Museo Lareta — The main room of the house. Cozy!

Projection show of the museum’s history.

This chapel room, a common feature in ritzier houses, could host weddings, baptisms, and masses. Here’s the very understated altar.

It was Professor Plum in the study with the candlestick!

The study bookshelves have the Larreta and Anchorena family crests carved on them.

If Larreta never used these as snack bowls while working, I don’t even know what we’re doing here.

The museum has incorporated some multimedia elements, including the floor show pictured above in the main room. The best use of multimedia is the touchscreen information display for a large altarpiece in the Sala de Infancia de Cristo.

The room dedicated to Larreta’s most famous work also includes a decorative media element.

First editions must be pretty scarce if the dude’s own museum couldn’t score one.

The novel was widely translated at the time, but it’s not easy to find an English copy these days. You can download the 1924 English edition here.

Other notable views for looky loos are the amazing Andulsian patio:

You can’t go out there, just take a peek.

And the impressive, Moorish-influenced bathroom:

Bidet on the left, and yes, they are totally normal bathroom equipment in Argentina today.

All that space, and it’s still a tub-shower combo.

My favorite part of the whole shebang, though, is the garden. Full of paths and lovely features and also cats, it’s great for meandering.

The garden views inspire reflections, such as: How much money did these people have? Was it all the money?

The garden has a contemporary sculpture exhibit throughout, often incorporating living elements of the garden:

The best part of the garden is the ombú tree. Planted about 100 years ago by Larreta’s son, the ombú is enormous. It’s hard to get a sense of its scale from a photo.

So here’s the garden map, to give you an idea of its size.

So let’s get down to brass tacks:

LOCATION: Juramento 2291, Belgrano neighborhood

COST: 30 pesos ($1.50 USD), free for students, seniors, kids under 12, people with disabilities; general admission is free on Thursdays

HOURS: Tuesday-Friday, 12-7; Saturday and Sunday, 10-8

CLOSED DAY: Monday

TIME: 1-2 hours

LANGUAGES: Only the bare minimum of the signage includes an English translation, but the photo function of the free Google translator app or the Microsoft translator app work pretty well; you will definitely get the gist.

TOURS: There are scheduled guided tours of the museum and garden in Spanish.

SHOP: There is no shop, but you can purchase a nice booklet of the museum for 80 pesos ($4.00 USD) or a fancy edition of La Gloria de Don Ramiro (for much more than that).

HOW TO GET THERE: The museum is very close to the Juramento stop of the D line of the subway and a yellow tourist bus stop.

KIDS: Not recommended for little kids. There’s nothing particularly interesting for them, pieces are out and easy to reach, and if they’re short and run off in the garden, you’re gonna lose sight of them.

FOOD IN THE AREA: There’s a nice cafe attached to the museum and several types of cafes and restaurants within a few blocks.