Inhotim, Brumadinho - Brazil

Inhotim

It rained during almost all month of December, so when the rain stopped, and all the holiday parties were over, we decided to explore the area around Belo Horizonte.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a great Modern Art Center in the city of Brumadinho, 37 miles from Belo Horizonte. Peter, my friend Bya and I went there through the back roads, enjoying the beautiful views of rolling hills, the green in them alive and vibrant. All the rain of the previous month woke up every atom in the trees and grass and I felt like I could talk to that sea of greenness, because of the aliveness I saw in them.

Inhotim is very unique, with a similar concept as the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, in the sense of mixing art and galleries with nature, but I dare say that Inhotim was even more interesting and dramatic than the Getty. It is 3000 acres of gardens, and 16 galleries, in an area where there was only small dairy farms in the past. In some areas, we can still see old farm houses, but as Inhotim expands its art shows, and galleries, the old buildings either disappear or morph into something else. Currently, there are 18 new galleries under construction.

The lagoons where black swans glided majestically, weaved through carefully manicured foliage and some ancient trees. Some of those trees did not resist the weight of time and succumbed to form beautiful large benches around the gardens. I did not waste any time laying down on them to rest and receive the great earth energy coming from them.

The art was also very diverse, and in most of the cases, consisted of installations. The highlight for me was the "Sound Pavilion" by Doug Aitken, a circular glass structure with a hole 200 yards deep in the center where sounds from the earth could be heard through special microphones. Mathew Barney's domes were also incredible, with an enormous truck inside, extracting a tree from earth. The images were reflected hundreds of times on every facet of the large dome. I am sorry I don't have any pictures of that as photos were not allowed there. In terms of architecture, Adriana Varejao's gallery was by far the most imposing and I am sure the most expensive. She is the wife of the owner of the museum, Bernardo Paez, so in a way, it is understandable.

It was a great day walking through the gardens, looking at beautiful and interesting art with a break at midday to eat the delicious buffet lunch at the main restaurant. When the rain started, it was already 4:30 pm, closing time. We took the same back road home, dropped Bya off, played with her dog Lulu for a while, enjoyed a dark beer together, and drove to my mother's home exhausted.