Lima–2014 January 15

I took the Metropolitano down to the central station again to visit a couple of museums. One of the museums (which I did not visit) is the Museum of Italian Art.

Cylindrical wing of museum of italian art

My first stop was the Museo de Arte de Lima. First, the good things: they have a large number of courses that they offer to the public, and there was a lot of interest in them. There are also some very nice paintings outside the museum.

Abstract and Robot painted on bridge structure

landscape with pink sky painted on bridge

Wall painting of old man; text reads “I am also called Peru”

“Trompe l'oeil” painting of shelf extending out of brick wall

woman and child, with man looking in through window

man with translucent hands in front of face

Now, the bad news. The permanent exhibition was closed, and there were two temporary exhibitions with no photos allowed—just as well, as they were fairly depressing. The exhibits were art from the 1980s, when there was a lot of unrest in Latin America. So, what I saw was pretty much underground art accompanied by what I call “art-speak,” where you see art accompanied by text like “The project encourages a consideration of the crossovers and forms of contamination, contagion, and affinity between apparently unrelated practices.” There were a couple of good things in the exhibit, one of which was a headline over an exhibit. Rendered into English, it was “we need fewer artists and more men and women who make art.”

Next stop: the Metropolitan Museum of Lima. (See also some videos at this link). This museum gives you a glimpse at Lima’s 10,000 year history through audio-visual displays. It’s all in Spanish, and it lasts about an hour. It was OK, but it felt rushed as the tour guide herded us from room to room, giving a burst of narrative at high speed before starting the video. Overall, it just felt cheesy and clearly aimed at the lowest common denominator (which, in my case, with my level of Spanish, may have been a good thing). I could have done without the 3-D video of the human sacrifices and the occasional appearances of the Inquisition in other videos. Honestly, I would have much preferred a museum where you could see the artifacts and old photos at leisure and rooms off to the side with the videos.

Some pictures from the museum area. The last one is the “Monument to Nothing,” I guess.

building with archways in moorish design

Statue of people; quote from Ricardo Palma on wall

Empty area where statue should be, with plaque that has no writing.

From there, I went to get lunch at the Real Plaza, and stopped at a place called Montao and ordered a wrap, called the “Wrappido” (rapid/wrapped, get it?). They said it would take 8 to 10 minutes, and after 20 minutes with no food, I told them I wasn’t interested in waiting any longer, and left.

I started heading for the botanical garden, but it was a lot further away from the museum area than I thought, and via a very uninviting area, so I headed back to the Plaza San Martín, where I happened upon the Museo de Minerales Andrés del Castillo, which has displays of minerals from Perú and also some precolumbian ceramics. This was definitely the highlight of the day; well worth the time.

Signage/Wall art

Text reads: In English, you’ll always have more. Learn English at the ICPNA and make the world yours.

Billboard showing pie chart of results for English vs. spanish search for sports.

Text on back of a bus: “How little you know me.”

A mural in honor of women.