While i was in Bogota, I had a day off, so I went to the Art Museum of the Banco de la República, a complex located in the historic center of Bogota, which contains: the Botero Museum, the Casa de la Moneda (House of the Coin) and the Miguel Urrutia Art Museum (MAMU); all connected to each other, although well differentiated and each one has a building with its own architecture. For example: the Botero Museum is a colonial style house with two levels and inside there is a garden; the MAMU is a very modern building with elevators, stairs, public toilets, audio guide, shop, cafeteria and reataurant; and, La Casa de la Moneda is an area with old machines and presses where cameras aren’t allowed and there is an interactive and didactic area where children can play and adults can learn about the coins and money of legal tender in Colombia.
The MAMU has a temporary exhibition hall and when I went there was an exhibition called Souvenir by the British artist Martin Parr. There are also permanent collection rooms of Colombian, Latin American and worlwide artworks, organizated in 5 exhibitions: 1) Early modern times (XVI-XVIII centuries); 2) Ruptures and continuities (XIX century); 3) The avant-garde renovation (1910-1950); 4) Classical, experimental and radical (1950-1980) and 5) Three decades of art in expansion (1980 to the present) located in the Republican House, within the Luis Ángel Arango Library. The MAMU has a project room called El Parqueadero (The Parking Lot), experimental space for contemporary artistic practices.
In the Botero Museum there are several rooms that show 208 artworks, 123 are by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero Angulo and 85 are from the private collection of international works (Renoir, Picasso, Dalí, Francis Bacon and Alexander Calder) that the artist donated in the year 2000 to the Bank of the Republic, which meant an act of peace. In the Casa de la Moneda is the numismatic collection of the Banco de la República, composed of coins, bills, documents and machines that reflect the economic history of Colombia.
Admission is free, reservations can be made for groups. There are guided tours without reservation, audio guide and it’s wifi zone. The consumption of drinks or meals inside the halls isn’t allowed, nor photos with flash. Security guys check the bags and backpacks when you entering and leaving.
