Minas Gerais Tour To Inhotim: Hidden Gems In Brazil

coolhunting                                                                                                       photo: coolhunting

South America is home to most striking natural sceneries and man-made architectural wonders. The state of Minas Gerais in Brazil is a location that one can hope to see some memorable scenic beauties. You can reach the capital, Belo Horizonte by flight from Rio and also directly from Miami. The museum encompasses an area of 5,000 acres of garden and foliage that one would not like to move away from even after spending a whole day there. Roberto Burle marx, the landscape artist from Brazil, had put his heart and soul in designing it.

Inhotim:

No one who visits the state forgets to visit Ouro Preto, a World Cultural Heritage Site that was the first city built in Brazil.  Congonhas, another historical city too is always on the radar of the visitors. One need not even mention Bom Jesus do matosinhos. What, sadly, is given a go by many is Inhotim or The Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim, a breathtaking art museum in Brumadinho, a town 56Km away from belo Horizonte.

Paz Made it Possible: 

It was founded by mining magnate, Bernardo Paz. It houses art pieces of 1960s and later periods.  The aesthetic value of the art pieces here is incomparable to any collection on the continent. Paz had been generous enough to let other enjoy what he enjoyed and made his private collection viewable by visitors to Inhotim. Millions have visited the museum since he exercised this magnanimity in 2006. The museum averages some 250,000 visitors a year. The artists have been given expert help by landscapers who created the compelling artwork. Those who get even slightly involved stand to lose themselves in the psychological encounters that would ensue sooner or later.

The Artists: 

Inhotim is Spanish for Mr.Tim.  Mr. Tim was the farmer who had been the owner of the land in which the museum is located. Priceless artwork by varied artists from nationalities as varied are on display here. The list of 97 famous artists from 30 countries includes Matthew Barney, Anish Kapoor, Tungo, Vik Muniz and Yayoi. There are above two dozen art pavilions. The botanical garden boasts of 4,500 exotic species and the largest palm tree grove on the Earth.

Fine Restaurants: 

After your artistic thirst is quenched, you can always turn towards your culinary requirements in the fine restaurants within the complex.

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Forty Part Motet:

The fact that a majority of visitors stand gaping (some with closed eyes!) at “Forty Part Motel” , an astonishing installation done by Janet Cardiff in 2001 is proof enough that they are all very fascinated by the sound effects. The sound installation incorporates a complicated placing of forty speakers in strategic locations through which 40 separate pre-recorded voices boom all over the place. Thomas Tallis’s 1575 composition can take your breath away. The sounds are so angelic.  An impossible perception is lent by the individual voices and the collective rendition.

Become involved: 

Unless you are a complete outsider to arts and artistic inclination, you will be swollen by the viewing experience par excellence. The mountainside can be envisioned in full through the massive kaleidoscope laid by Olafur Eliasson, the reputed Danish artist.

Written By:

Jenny Corteza is an avid traveller. She compiles her travel diaries on her blog, the latest one being Dubai Short Stay. She believes for a blogger, it is very important to have a blogging strategy in place and she consults content marketing process post-me for getting her line of thoughts in sync.