A brand new museum undertaking is underway in Chile. Led by the businessman and philanthropist Claudio Engel and his 4 kids, the New Museum of Santiago (dubbed NuMu) might be constructed across the household’s substantial artwork assortment, in addition to host each nationwide and worldwide short-term exhibitions.
The NuMu is scheduled to interrupt floor within the Chilean capital in August. As soon as accomplished, it would comprise greater than 2,000 sq. m of exhibition area, a devoted sound-art room and an auditorium with 180 seats to accommodate movie screenings, dance and theatre performances, talks and group occasions. The museum can even embrace a library, restaurant and museum store.
The undertaking is spearheaded by the Engel Basis. Claudio Engel, born to German immigrants who arrived in Chile within the Nineteen Thirties, has established himself as a outstanding collector of latest artwork. The NuMu’s everlasting exhibition, derived from this assortment, would be the spine of the museum’s programming, based on María Pies, director of the Engel Basis. Engel’s expansive assortment contains work by artists comparable to Alfredo Jaar, Paz Errázuriz and Pilar Quinteros.
Rendering of the New Museum of Santiago, Chile Courtesy the Engel Basis
“The Engel Assortment is a crucial reference level for modern artwork in our nation and area, encompassing works by Chilean and Latin American artists from the Sixties to the current,” Pies tells The Artwork Newspaper. “It brings collectively key items of our historical past and heritage, constituting a set of greater than 1,000 works by greater than 200 artists in varied media.” (The museum’s short-term exhibitions haven’t but been introduced.)
The NuMu might be housed in a brand new constructing designed by the architect Cristián Fernández and his namesake agency. It is going to be the primary large-scale modern artwork museum in Chile to be housed in a brand new construction. The nation’s main public modern artwork museum, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, is positioned in two venues in Santiago—each are neoclassical buildings which have traditionally served quite a lot of non-exhibition features.
Rendering of the New Museum of Santiago, Chile Courtesy the Engel Basis
“NuMu might be located in Vitacura’s Bicentennial Park, one of many metropolis’s main inexperienced areas,” Pies says. “This setting will permit us to combine the museum’s programming with the encompassing leisure and pure surroundings, providing actions for a variety of tourists.”
Nevertheless, the museum’s lush location has not been with out controversy. Scientists and concrete planners have publicly criticised its placement, citing considerations over the discount of public inexperienced area in a metropolis of practically seven million folks.
Alongside worries about city biodiversity, the realm’s restricted entry to public transportation has raised fears of elevated site visitors. The NuMu group factors to a brand new metro station deliberate just some blocks from the positioning. “This can permit guests to discover a number of museums in a single journey, connecting totally different cultural hubs throughout the town,” a museum spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
The ultimate allow to start building on the NuMu was granted in April, giving the official inexperienced gentle to maneuver the undertaking ahead. The museum’s opening date has not been introduced however will probably be in late 2027 or early 2028.
