There is a Museum of Fine Arts for one hundred more years

Zacarías García, artist, researcher and teacher, believes that the Museum of Fine Arts not only
It represents an artistic enclave for the city, a heritage infrastructure and a reservoir of almost seven thousand pieces of an important sample of world art of all time, but it is, fundamentally, a symbol imprinted in the imagination of
the people of Caracas, in their loves and their memory.

It is, in the opinion of the general director of the MBA, the summary of a series of emotions from a corner of Los Caobos park: the childhood memories of several generations, the
Sunday family walk with ice cream and skateboards, the garden of crossed loves, an improvised home for homeless people staying up late, a showcase for creators. He adds, with an astonishing humility: “it is the country.”

It reopened its doors following seven months of forced technical closure due to recovery work on the neoclassical building, carried out by the national government through the Vice Presidency of the Republic, the Venezuela Bella Mission and a team of architects who
They tried at all times to respect the founding proposals of Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who left very precise instructions on how to maintain the infrastructure that opened its doors on February 20, 1938, under the government of Eleazar López Contreras, although it had existed since 1917. year in which it began operation
from the Palace of the Academies.

Among other contributions, some astonishing, the Doric columns in its central courtyard were stripped of at least 15 layers of paint, to restore their original appearance, including their angles. Sensors were placed in the corners of the building to repel bats
that during night flights they used to disperse their fecal depositions on the walls. “Villanueva was so extraordinary that he even wrote down the cement mixtures he used, to which he even added aloe vera and marble, so that the frising gave it the texture he was looking for, and that has been recovered by the architects who were in this project. project,” Zacarías points out.

“I believe that the stylistic aspects that were taken care of for this restoration, in the landscaping, columns, circulation, lighting, air conditioning, security with walls raised over vulnerable areas, etc., have been very important, perhaps the most detailed in history. of the museum,” he emphasized.

Few details are missing

In addition to some touch-ups in offices, it remains to complete the restoration of the modern building, corresponding to the second stage of the Museum of Fine Arts that Villanueva conceived as a more avant-garde expansion, in brutalist format, inaugurated by President Caldera in 1973. In this phase, according to Zacarías, it is vital to service the tensioners that constitute the primary framework, in addition to the air conditioning system, drains, forklifts and elevators.

“If at the end of the year we might be opening the 18 rooms of the two buildings, it would be a complete success.”

García insistently highlights the projective vision that Villanueva gave to his work. Therefore, he concludes that the museum is always a welcoming space and it happens that, on many occasions, people do not want to leave its rooms, its hallways, its gardens.

“He calculated everything, even the natural light that might enter because in the original museum there was no need for air conditioning, the city was very cool then; The lighting was even supported by skylights that let in light filtered later by colored fabrics. Today the pollution and temperature conditions of the city would not allow that, but I think that the museum still has that climate that takes us back.”

Public access

Meanwhile, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 in the morning to 4:30 in the followingnoon, curious people, walkers, Caracas residents, visitors and art lovers in general, can delve into the currently active exhibitions: Palafitos: mirrors of time by Oscar Quintana; Constructive time of Daniel Suárez; Mahoganies of Paradise by Manuel Pappaterra; Aesthetics of the humble by José Gregorio Castro; and two authentic anthological samples of which Zacarías is particularly proud: Revisiting utopia: geometric abstractionism 1948-1958, which compiles, among others, Gego, Alejandro Otero, Luis Guevara Moreno, Oswaldo Vigas and Mateo Manaure; and Alba is our America, identity and resistance, a sketch of the very important Latin American collection held by the National Museums Foundation and which, according to the also engraver and photographer, is the true heart of the museum, where the elite of the painters of the region that will be exhibited from now on under the name Museo Nuestroamericano and that will eventually have a permanent headquarters in the modern building.

Another value that Zacarías García adds to this monumental endeavor is the constitution from the State of a team of professionals and restorers who finally do their work understanding the importance of heritage buildings, in order to avoid the damage that is sometimes done, irremediably damaging some structures.

On occasions the MBA has received more than 3 thousand visitors during a weekend, which statistically speaks of the importance it has not only as a cultural and educational bastion, but as an entertainment space, only overshadowed by the Science Museum. which, for obvious reasons of spectacularity, generates greater fascination especially
in the youngest ones.

What was done

Restoration of columns in the central plaza using special mortar, restoration of walls, ceilings and bars, construction of granite floors, waterproofing of ceilings, cleaning and maintenance of wood. Cleaning green areas with pruning of trees and branches. New irrigation system. Repair of glass elements in doors. Placement of new luminaires and reflectors. Fire detection system. Air conditioning repair and maintenance. Placement of pest control equipment. Repair of cargo and personal elevators. Recovery of the museum perimeter: construction of a new edge wall, recovery of the parking access gate, parking lot demarcation and road maintenance, among other tasks.