MALBA, Buenos Aires
Sofi and I left the cemetery of la Recoleta in the rain to walk to the National Museum of Fine Arts, which was our original destination on Monday, June 27. Despite the moisture it was a pleasant walk, as Buenos Aires is a beautiful city.
Sofi y yo salimos del cementerio de la Recoleta en la lluvia el lunes 27 de junio, para caminar al Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, nuestro destino original. A pesar de la humedad, fue una caminata placentera porque Buenos Aires es una ciudad bonita.
To our dismay, the museum was closed on Mondays. That is definitely something that I should have checked before we set out. The problem was that we had planned to walk around the center of Buenos Aires but had changed our plans at the last minute so that we could be inside due to the rain. I took a picture of Sofi in front of the building to commemorate our failure.
Muy a nuestro pesar, el museo está cerrado los lunes, como muchos museos del mundo. Yo tenía que haber averiguado antes de irnos, pero el plan original no era ir al museo. Habíamos planeado caminar por el centro de la ciudad, pero cambiamos de idea por la lluvia. Saqué una foto de Sofi enfrente del museo para conmemorar el fracaso.
There are some cool things to see in the area around the Fine Arts Museum, but I did not want to make Sofi suffer through the cold and the wet for my sake. Not to mention that I was not very keen to continue in those conditions either.
Hay cosas interesantes alrededor del museo, pero no quería someter a Sofi a una larga caminata en la lluvia helada para mí. Tampoco tenía yo muchas ganas de continuar en esas condiciones, así que decidimos volver a casa.
Across the street from the bus stop was the Floralis Genérica, a sculpture by the Argentinian artist Eduardo Catalano. I am sure that it looks better on a warm, sunny, summer day than it does on a cold, rainy, winter one.
Al otro lado de la calle de la parada de autobuses estaba la Floralis Genérica, una escultura del artista argentino Eduardo Catalano. Estoy segura de que se ve mejor en un día cálida y soleado de verano en vez de un día fría y lluvioso de invierno.
As we boarded the bus to return home, the gods of fate must have decided to smile upon us, and we passed the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) it was open. We had a split second to make our decision and get off the bus before it took off again. The discussion went something like this, but in Spanish “It’s open!” “Go, go, go!” As we sprinted up the stairs through a downpour, I did not have time to take a picture, so I borrowed this one from this site. It is a stunning building if you like modern architecture.
En vez que montamos en el autobús de vuelta, los dioses del destino decidieron sonreírnos y pasamos por el MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) y estaba abierto. Tuvimos apenas unos segundos para decidir si bajar o seguir antes de que el autobús se arrancara otra vez. La conversación fue algo así, “¡Está abierto!” “¡Vámanos, vámanos, vámanos!” No había tiempo para sacar fotos mientras corríamos hacia arriba por las escaleras en un diluvio, así que saqué esta foto de este sitio web. Es un edificio bonito si te gusta la arquitectura moderna.
This sculpture is just outside the front doors.
Esta escultura está justo afuera de las puertas principales.
Our first stop was the Yoko Ono exhibit on the top floor that has opened a mere three days prior. I loved the interactive nature of the exhibit, but I must warn you before you continue that there are images that contain nipples, vaginas and buttocks.
Nuestra primera parada fue la exposición de Yoko Ono que había apenas comenzado tres días antes de nuestra visita. Me encantaba el carácter interactivo de la exposición, pero tengo que avisarte antes de continuar que hay imágenes de senos, vaginas y nalgas.
Here we are searching for words, writing on walls and pounding nails.
Aquí estamos buscando palabras, pintando en paredes y clavando clavos.
At one point I was able to climb a ladder that allowed me to view the entire exhibit from above.
En una parte pude subir una escalera para observar la exposición desde arriba.
It was interesting. I am not a huge fan of Yoko Ono and was not impressed by everything in the exhibit, but there were elements that I enjoyed.
Fue interesante. No soy gran aficionada de Yoko Ono y no me gustaba todo, pero había elementos que disfruté bastante.
From there we continued down.
De allí continuamos hacía abajo.
The other floors hold the permanent collections by Latin American artists as you would surmise by the name of the museum.
En las otras plantas hay colecciones permanentes de artistas latinoamericanos como se adivinaría por el nombre del museo.
The people seated on the bench are not part of the exhibit, of course, but this scene caught my eye as we were walking down the hall.
La pareja sentada en el banco no son parte de la exhibición, por supuesto, pero la escena me llamó la atención mientras caminábamos por el pasillo.
I am glad that we stumbled upon the MALBA. It had been on my list of places to visit, but it was fortuitous that we were able to go when we thought that there was no place left to go but home. I recommend a stop if you are in Buenos Aires, especially if it is raining.
Estoy feliz de que tropezamos con el MALBA por accidente. Había estado en mi lista de lugares por visitar, pero fue fortuito que pudimos ir en vez de volver a casa esa tarde. Recomiendo una visita si estás en Buenos Aires, especialmente si está lloviendo.
To read more about my trip to Argentina or my travels in general, visit this page.
Para leer más de mi viaje a la Argentina o mis viajes en general, visita esta página.
Happy Travels!
¡Buen viaje!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
You’re right, MALBA is a stunning building. Yoko’s art … maybe not so much. But it would be fun to paint one’s name on a painting in a museum!
Getting to write on things and participate in a museum was fun. Her art… Meh. I also forgot to mention that the museum store had really beautiful things, but expensive, of course.
i like the interactive nature of the exhibit. glad to hear you were able to at least see one museum that day!
ps – i would not have known what to expect with an art exhibit by yoko ono, i’m not very familiar with her other than what i’ve heard over the years. her art not really my thing either.
That visit was meant to be, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. That was my favorite of the museums I visited in Buenos Aires, although I don’t know if it would be the same experience without Yoko Ono’s exhibit.