Whilst researching things to do in Argentina, I came across a blog called A World Away written by the lovely Kristina. She’d been to Argentina and had pretty much travelled to the same places I was going to on my trip. One of her many recommendations was to visit the MALBA art gallery in Buenos Aires. MALBA which stands for Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, has now also become one of my favourite art galleries in the world. The Hostelling Association had put me in touch with Agostina, who used to run tours around the gallery, so I was really excited about not only getting to see the gallery, but also get some insight into the artists and the work on display.
MALBA’s aim is to collect, preserve, research and promote Latin American art from the start of the 20th Century to the present day. This modern art gallery which opened its doors in 2001, has over 500 works of art including paintings, photography, drawings and sculptures by artists from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Mexico. Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay.
There are also exhibitons on throughout the year, and we were lucky enough to see work by the Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão in her exhibition called History at the Margins.
The gallery was small in comparison to some others around the world, but it has definitely mage the list of my top 5. I could have spent hours there sitting and looking at all the works of art. In fact, after Agostina left me to head off for the afternoon, I went back inside to take a second look at everything I’d seen. Even the building itself looks like a sculpture, which changes from day to night, and interacts with the people and environment around it. Everything in Malba is artistic, from the chairs to the ceiling, you can be surrounded by amazing pieces of art.
I can’t explain the feeling I get when I’m surrounded by beautiful art. It’s like the warm fuzzies. The rest of the world disappears and a calmness comes over me where I can just sit, quiet, reflecting and unmoving for hours looking at each masterpiece in front of me. I try to imagine what the artist was feeling and thinking when creating the piece and try to get inside their minds and see the pieces as they did. An art gallery is probably the only time you’ll find me silent and not talking which if you’ve ever met me, you know doesn’t happen that often.
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