Art and the Big Island of Chiloe, Chile

It's just a "bit like England" within the "New World". Yes, one thing in common to Chiloe, is English weather of Chiloe. Its much like being at home, I lived in the UK and getting there made me feel a bit home sick ...... So I feeling very much at home for the whole time I was staying on the Island, full of fields and cows grazing, land worked for the hay, small pkots with very green hedges......

So one can say that Chiloe is famous, however, for a few more things that you don't have in England, the food, the people, the wooden churches, small villages plenty pf villages across the island.

Castro is not only a small very interesting city but also the Island's capital. Along the Bay front there are famous local constructions are made atop "palafitos" (pillars), which is a very interesting way to live and work together with the constant tide movement, which if not addressed properly would make life very complicated with constant floods.

Walking throughout Castro makes me recall upon my days -back in the 60s- in Guyana where I used to live at the time it has a Welsh feel to it, may be because of the intense green hills and constant rain which might make them share a similar magic.

Without a doubt I find Castro to be a wonderful lost in time spot. I'm enjoying already its treats.

There's an amazing way in which Castro has managed to blend the old and the new, its traditions and spectacular insular architecture with the edgy proposal of the Museum of Modern Art located in Castro's municipal park add an extra flavor to this gorgeous town of multicolor houses atop wooden pillars, wonderful Jesuit churches and spectacular cuisine.

A brief out line on this of the beaten track Modern Museum, The Museum of Modern Art of Chiloe is not just like any other art museum or gallery. Much more it is a cultural conception of what any kind of art display should be and what role shout it play in society. This museum of Chiloe was not the result of a cultural planning nor was it a governmental initiative.

The story of this museum goes back in time to 1988 when a group of people in love with contemporary art decided to bring into life a cultural space in tune with the Sweden conception of Moderna Museet. The idea was to shelter the works of contemporary art that were being produced in the country, which no one was worried about rescuing nor valuing as a token of the Chilean Contemporary Art history. They thought that because of the lack of adequate spaces, showrooms and galleries, most Chilotas were missing on experiencing and living art as part of their current lives.

As a way of escaping the contemporary approach to art, understood as an over commercialized and excessively ideologized or gracious cultural centers, this museum opened its doors to works of art that were meant to speak to society by means of being shown in the public spaces. After 15 years in a row of military regime, under Pinochet's battue, these artists were striving for a place to show their point of view of the state of things.

They said "it was imperative to create this space, even though it was only a manifestation of our protest". But when those who conceived the museum shared their idea with those personalities of the artistic world that they respected, the response was unanimous, and every single one of them supported the project.

The modern museum - and thus Moderna Museet - is fundamentally a paradox.

"Moderna Museet is undoubtedly a museum, a place that most people associate with history, with memories and with order imposed on them. With constructing, reconstructing and even deconstructing history, or rather, the many histories that can be recounted of what has been. But the museum is nonetheless modern - an arena for the contemporary, for contemporary art and the debates that surround it." Say the Moderna Museet as a way of describing their venture. The base concept is the same as in MAM Chiloe.

As the Museum of Modern Art of Chiloe (MAM Chiloe) evolution from a small 80 piece collection back in 1989 to a broader 200 in just a couple of years, the concept within the project began to take form in a parallel way as it happened in Stockholm. The concept within the museum began to change from still-permanent- perennial collections to living ones, requiring the constant input of the artist who grows and evolves himself and, therefore, had to go updating-replacing-innovating within his works, and that would show on the display.

In 1991, the linkage between MAM and the Swedish Moderna Museet concept was doubtless. It was then when MAM chiloe settles in its current location in the Municipal Park of Castro in an old warehouse built by the famous architect of the 70s Isaac Eskenazi, the place needed to be saved, and this was indeed possible thanks to the opportune collaboration of the Swedish Embassy.

From then on, MAM is one of the only South American experiences to share the Swedish principles, interpreting the concept in tight bonds with the society and culture the museum is trying to portray and share. The experience is still developing to our days to an outstanding rate and with fabulous results.

So back to town, all down hill, talking of which, our night out in town was a total success: we enjoyed a superbly well prepared Pisco Sour, the national drink of Chile, with our treats of Seafood: Abalones with Mayonnaise (Locos con Mayo) which is one of Chile's national dishes, and it's done with exceptional quality and expertise and fried Congrio- Conger Eel fish, also a local delicatessen.