Art in Buenos Aires: what I saw and liked
Two museums, two important exhibitions
While the majority of the art world is currently at the opening of the 60th Venice Biennale, I’m just ‘recovering’ from my trip to Latin America and digesting all the natural and cultural beauty I experienced. I wish I could write a whole book on Peru, where I spenta almost two weeks, but today's focus stays on art. After incredible Peru, we spent another five days in Buenos Aires. We absolutely fell in love with the city. Therefore my next Substack will be first in the series ' Love Letter to ..’ Buenos Aires ( tell me if I should do a Love Letter to Peru too? Would need to do the whole country though, one city won’t do) and I will talk about why and what I loved, and share my recommendations. But now, back to art!
Buenos Aires has two significant museums that you should definitely visit if you are in town for a couple of days. There is more art to see, but in my short time there, I got to visit three (of which one was Fine Art museums exhibiting primarily Modern Art from Europe), the other two were MAMBA and MALBA. I was really impressed by current exhibitions at both museums but Manifesto Verde show at MAMBA ( below) had my heart.
Museo Moderno Buenos Aires
Manifiesto verde
The exhibition "Manifiesto Verde [Green Manifesto]" presents artworks from the 1940s to the present and celebrates how art can be a tool to showcase Earth's vitality. Inspired by Nicolás García Uriburu's 1971 manifesto against civilization's conflict with nature, this exhibition urges a reconnection with the living world. Through paintings, drawings, and sculptures, artists capture the fecundity of South America's landscapes, from the Paraná Delta to the Amazon, inviting awe and reverence for nature's beauty and complexity.
Artists featured include Nicolás García Uriburu, Luis Fernando Benedit, Florencia Böhtlingk, Melé Bruniard, Juana Butler, Feliciano Centurión, Nora Correas, Casimiro Domingo, Raquel Forner, Ricardo Garabito, Edgardo Giménez, Juan Grela, Aid Herrera, Lido Iacopetti, Marcelo Pombo, and Juan Tessi.
MALBA Foundation
Rosana Paulino / Amefricana
The exhibition featuring Rosana Paulino, a prominent artist from Sao Paulo, marks the first comprehensive showcase of her work outside Brazil. Spanning 30 years from 1994 to 2024, the exhibition explores the concept of "Amefricana," proposed by Brazilian philosopher Lélia Gonzáles, which situates Afro-descendant America within the context of the Atlantic. Paulino's artistic interventions reimagine the archives of the African diaspora in South America through a dialogue between personal and historical archives, reconceptualizations of Brazilian art, and critiques of Western science's classification systems. The exhibition presents five large installations alongside drawings, engravings, and a video, organized into four conceptual hubs that intertwine throughout Paulino's oeuvre. These hubs, including "Atlantic Memories" and "Weavings of Subjectivity," offer a deeply affective journey through complex themes. Accompanying the exhibition is a catalog featuring essays by curators and texts by the artist, as well as plans for an international conference on the African Diaspora in the Americas and its transatlantic relations.
And that’s all for now! A Love Letter to Buenos Aires coming up next.
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