Musuem of Antioquia–other artwork

When visiting the Musuem of Antioquia I took in a special exhibit, the “68 70 72 Bienales De Arte Coltejer”, a show of South American modern art from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

I like this sculpture that incorporates light and sound. The clip was accidently captured sideways, but I managed to turn in post production.

Enter video caption here

Other painting from the show -

A series of three paints struck me with its dark story. In the first painting a lavish dinner party is underway. in the top left corner a wolf or large dog is entering the frame. In the second painting the guest have been killed and are being eaten. In the third a newspaper account of the event is being read.  In my mind there is a reactionary theme going on here, “…kill and eat the rich.” Deep.

 

There was one piece by Diego Rivera, the man.

The museum has a small collection of primitive art.

And a few pieces of furniture…

There was a fairly large collection of religious art and a large collection of portraits. This is the only religious painting that interested me.

The Museum of Antioquia, Medellin is well worth a visit if you go to Colombia. I heard that there is a larger collection of Boltero paintings in Bogota and more sculptures in Medellin.

My favorite piece can be found near the front door. I saw this sculpture as  was leaving the museum. The piece reminds me of the passage in the Bible about turning swords into plow shears.

In Search of Rear Brake Pads

I met four Colombian riders, three of them in Quito, Ecuador and the fourth the next day.

Thomas, Diego, Andres and Valancia

The group got bigger as we saw friends along the way.

Andres convinced me to skip Cali and ride with them to Armenia - Antioquia, Colombia. The winning offer was that they would show me the town and take a ride in the country side. How could I say no?

Thomas drove me around Armenia looking for generic rear brake pads. We went to the motorcycle parts zone, which was incredibly intense. I have never seen so many motorcycles in one area and so many people working on their bikes. Oddly, we couldn’t find the brake pads that I needed.

Part I

Part II

We gave up looking for the brake pads and went to his house for lunch.

Then we went a ride in the Colombian hills…

We rounded a corner and encountered a herd of cows…classic.

Thomas led us to Salento, Quindio were we had a traditional cup of rice pudding.

On the way to pick up his son from school, we stopped for a snack. Thomas had blood sausage and had the pork sausage.

The following day I rode to Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia, where Diego lives. I found his office building and we took off for the motorcycle parts zone. First stop and I got the brake pads. Diego paid ~$95.00 USD for new brake pads in Quito at the BMW dealer. I paid ~42.00 USD for pads made by a Spanish company.

We went back to his office build and I installed the new pads in the parking garage while Diego attended to business. An hour later we went for lunch at a restaurant on a hill over looking Pereira. Diego gave me a 2013 date book and insisted on paying for lunch. Colombians are great! In fact, every meal I had with Colombian riders was picked up by them. I felt a little embarrassed, but understood that they are generous people and proud to extend hospitality to a traveler. 

Peru – Bones & Gold

Making my way north through Peru, figured really should take in some of the ancient history. After Macchu Picchu and the land drawing at Nazca it was time for a museum presentation. Claus from Sucre recommend a museum, but the name he gave wasn’t quite right and the town Chiclayo didn’t have the grade/quality of museum that he spoke about. With some head scratching, noodling around with the GPS and the Peru tourism bureau maps, I decided it was a museum a little to the north of Chiclayo. 10 miles or later I found it. Did I mention it was Monday. Yeah, the day when most museums all around the world are closed. The Museu Nacional Sican is no exception. The doors were shut tight. Fortunately the guards were very nice and provided me with a small stack of brochures. I resolved to spend the night in Ferreñafe, the closest town and return in the morning…
Going back to Ferreñafe I took some photos of a cemetery, Cementerio El Carmen, with an impressive collection of large statues lining the entrance corridor.

I was initially very impressed with the angels above the entrance arch, till I saw them wobble in the wind. That is when it was apparent that they were made of plastic.   

Now the search for a hotel…and instead I found a feature film crew. I was immediately impressed that they were using a RED camera. This camera was designed and manufactured by OAKEY, the sunglass company. I am sure he owner had more than a little help from engineers. The RED a digital camera and the cost is so low that production companies buy a camera instead of renting traditional movie camera that use film. The camera is shaking up the classic models of producing films, like many things digital. The crew was capturing the principle actor walking towards the camera in one very long take. At the end of the “action” the actor stops in an intersection, looks this way and that, ponders a while, then walk on. A totally gripping moment, I am sure. Turns out the actor is the director and producer too. I have to wonder if it is his first film and if he ever edited a movie in his life.


Fast forward to the next morning… I returned to Museu Nacional Sican shortly after they opened. The collection describes a royal tomb and presents a wide range of gold ornaments, beads and shells. The tomb is reconstructed. There are two very interesting aspects to the burial tomb: the king is in a fetal position, upside down, and there is a woman in the position of giving birth. For reasons I can not explain, I did not photograph the reconstructed tomb. You’ll have to find images online or visit the museum.


The second museum I visited is the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán. The collection is bigger and includes another reconstructed tomb. Unfortunately photography is not allowed in this museum. If you have to pick one museum to visit, go to this one.