Art in the country and in the world has had to overcome a range of changes since the pandemic neutralized all sectors and changed the lifestyle and socialization. And it is precisely this turn that led many cultural centers to take the route of virtuality, a path that has especially strengthened the National Museum of Colombia.
Guided tours and 360-degree virtual tours have now become the way to know the works of the most important national and international artists in the museum. A solution in response to the closures of establishments, which has extended the exhibition halls to various corners of Colombia and other countries, which was at the head of Daniel Castro Benitez, former director of the cultural center.
A change of direction
For Castro this 2021 the changes also continued, as this Monday he was notified by the Ministry of Culture of his final departure from the National Museum of Colombia just one year after his retirement, a decision for which, according to the cultural manager, he does not know the reasons. .
Daniel Castro was appointed director of the cultural institution in 2015, after being selected from a shortlist made up of figures from the academic and cultural world, such as Clara Isabel Botero and María Fernanda Urdaneta.
The master of fine arts has had an important trajectory in culture, since he was also director of the Quinta de Bolívar House Museum, a position he held since 1999 and Museum of Independence-House of the Vase, an institution that guided since 2002 and in which he led the comprehensive renovation process for the Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Independence of Colombia.
Under Castro’s management, the National Museum kept calendars that included exhibitions and large-scale events that revealed not only the wide repertoire of works by experienced artists, but also emerging creators. Likewise, during the pandemic the Museum, despite having closed its doors, like many cultural sites, decided to reactivate and not stop its plans, betting on virtuality and adapting about 17 samples.
The departure of Daniel Castro not only leaves the leadership of one of the most important cultural institutions in the country in suspense, but also the direction he will take in the coming days.
A digital future?
However, although the Ministry of Culture has not ruled on the possible candidates to lead the institution, the actions of the Museum are directed towards a digital future, Well, in recent months they managed to reinvent large-format projects to one in which citizens could enjoy from home, without the need for crowds to prevent the spread of the virus.
For this reason, we recall some of the exhibitions and digital activities that the museum has in its catalog today, which were developed by the hand of the Association of Friends of the National Museum.
Represent the Republic
One of the great virtual projects is Represent the Republic 1819-1830): maps, battle scenes, symbols and characters, an exhibition that takes up some of the iconographic mechanisms with which the Republic of Colombia from 1819-1830 formed a national identity using certain types of images. These included maps, battle scenes, symbols, and portraits of the new authorities. The images were produced and circulated both in the territory of the Republic and abroad.
To the sample, that It is made up of 24 pieces, including lithographs, maps, coins, miniatures, an oil painting, a watercolor, a medal and a stamp, It can be accessed through a 360 degree tour in which you can learn in detail the four phases into which the exhibition is divided, installed in the museum rooms, an immersive experience to which several institutions have already joined.
One hundred times eight
In 2020 100 years since the birth of several Colombian historical artists like Alejandro Obregón Roses, Edgar Negret Dueñas, Lucy Tejada, Cecilia Porras and Enrique Grau; photojournalists Manuel Humberto Rodríguez Corredor and Nereo López Meza; and the writer Manuel Zapata Olivella.
To commemorate this important anniversary the National Museum opened the temporary exhibition One hundred times eight. Centennial of eight Colombian creators, which focuses the creators’ gaze on a specific and early period of their foray into the cultural field. Another project that was transformed into virtuality with an immersive tour.
The analysis period of the sample goes from 1944 to 1966, a period of particular freedom for the new creators, who were going through a socio-political period remembered by bipartisan tensions at the national level and the Cold War at the world level. It will consist of 186 works, of which 87 are unpublished or have been little disseminated.
The art of wood
This exhibition exalts the crafts and knowledge of the master craftsmen who have built society. During the tour you will be able to see pieces of wood that are part of the set delivered to the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (Icanh) in 2017 and come from the Calima archaeological region (Valle del Cauca). Societies developed in that region over 2,600 years.
The jaguar and the butterfly
This tribute to the Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park located between Guaviare and Caquetá is manifested in “The jaguar and the butterfly” which is also available on the museum platform. The exhibition represents and makes visible the diversity and geomorphological, ecological and cultural specificity that has developed within the territory of the Serranía in this area of the country.
Exhibits are also available The history of the museum and the museum in history, la sala History of the Panopticon, the Room 19, Magdalena river. Navigating a nation, Hey, look, see, Rock nation Y Miss Museum Woman, nation, identity and citizenship.
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