MoCA of the Month
Inhotim is a continuously evolving place where art exists in a uniquely intimate relationship with nature. Located in Brumadinho, 60 km from the State’s capital of Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Inhotim has a garden area of 97 hectares. Part of the beautifully crafted landscape was designed in collaboration with renowned Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx. It is complemented by a comprehensive living library of rare tropical plant species and an art collection of international relevance.
Inhotim is commited to the cultural development of the surrounding community. Its botanical and contemporary art collections are regularly used in educational projects and for professional training in the fields of art and the environment. Inhotim actively contributes to the articulation and implantation of policies focused on improving the quality of life in the region, through own activities and in partnership with the local authorities.
All of the activities developed at Inhotim are promoted by the Institute Inhotim – a private, not for profit institution, classified by the Government of the State of Minas Gerais as a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest.
Environmental Park
The Inhotim Environmental Park is dedicated to the preservation of remnants of the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) biomes, the restoration and maintenance of botanical collections from Brazil and other countries around the world, and the application of sustainable stewardship techniques.
The total area of the Inhotim Environmental Park, which is in constant expansion, is divided between its two main assets: a Natural Reserve of 600 hectares of preserved native forest, and the Tropical Park, with 97 hectares of gardens with botanical collections and five ornamental lakes which cover an overall area of 3.5 hectares.
Currently the Environmental Park contains over 3000 species of plants. Among the most representative are cyca and sago palms (Cycadaceae); nolina or elephant-foot tree (Liliaceae); jerivás, butiás, date palms, macaúbas, babaçu (Palmae); zâmia (Zamiaceae).
Social actions
Inhotim believes that its role in the community extrapolates that of a cultural agent, considering that it is necessary to create and implement strategies for local development, preservation of assets and the environment, generation of income, tourism, education, sports, health and infrastructure in Brumadinho.
Through its Citizenship, Inclusion and Social Action Department, the institution is an active player in the development of projects focused on improving the quality of life in that region.
In 2008, Inhotim, working together with over 30 cultural representatives, music groups, independent musicians, and cultural associations of Brumadinho, created the project – Brumadinho, a musical city. The project promotes actions which involve local musical and cultural expressions. A good example of this is the Coral Inhotim Encanto and Iniciação Musical (Musical Initiation) program developed jointly with the four local bands.
The Inhotim Choirs – Encanto Infantil, Juvenil, Adulto – bring together 91 residents from the municipality, representing a partnership between Inhotim and Fundação Madrigal Renascentista, the local town hall, and Corporação Musical Banda São Sebastião.
Educational Actions
Among the Inhotim educational programs, one of the highlights is the Inhotim Laboratory in Brumadinho. This program promotes greater familiarity with art on the part of children and adolescents from the regional school system, fomenting interaction with the contemporary artwork in the museum as well as various expressions of local culture.
As a result of these educational actions, some 1.200 students from the public and private schools of Brumadinho and Greater Belo Horizonte visit Inhotim every week. These visits encourage closer relations between society and values of art, environment, citizenship and cultural diversity, focused mainly on Art Education and Environmental Education.
Inhotim
Rua B, 20, Inhotim, Brumadinho, MG, Brasil 35460-000
The collection comprising 500 works of art by over 100 artists and temporary exhibitions are presented in the outdoors or within twelve galleries spread throughout the environmental park.
The permanent galleries were designed specifically to receive the works of Tunga, Cildo Meireles, Adriana Varejão, Doris Salcedo, Victor Grippo, Matthew Barney, Rivane Neuenschwander, Valeska Soares, Janet Cardiff & George Miller and Doug Aitcken, after intense dialogue among the artists, architects and the institution.
The temporary galleries – Lago, Fonte, Praça and Mata (meaning, respectively, lake, spring, square and forest) – have an approximate area of one thousand square meters each (almost 11 thousand square feet). Their shared architectural design involves large free spans which provide versatility for the exhibition of videos, installations, paintings, sculptures, etc. All the galleries conform to international art museum standards, in terms of air conditioning and other facilities.
The Tropical Park has areas which were developed along the guidelines suggested by famed landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx. The enormous variety of plants at Inhotim make it one of the largest botanical collections in the world, with rare tropical species and a forest reserve which is part of the Atlantic Forest biome.
Mission Statement
Instituto Cultural Inhotim is an original museum complex, formed by a non-linear sequence of pavilions in the midst of a botanical garden. It is focused mainly on contemporary art and environmental issues, in addition to research and education in these two areas. It is a place where knowledge is produced based on its art pieces and botanical richness.
Created in 2005, Inhotim is a private, non-profit entity, duly classified by the Government of the State of Minas Gerais as a Public Interest Non-Governmental Organization.
Inhotim holds a precious collection of contemporary art as well as a large botanical treasure. There the environment lives in harmony with art, and both are the basis of wide-reaching education actions of a social nature. This treasure is the basis for the development of research, scientific innovation and education.
The representative collection of contemporary art at Inhotim has been formed since the mid-80’s, focusing on works created from 1960 on. There are paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and installations of Brazilian and international artists.
Collection
Contemporary Art
Inhotim began to form its collection in the mid-80´s, with special focus on art produced around the world between the 60´s and today. Painting, sculpture, drawings, photos, videos and installations of renowned Brazilian and international artists are displayed in nine galleries throughout the Environmental Park.
The exhibits are distributed among in galleries dedicated to permanent installations and others galleries where selected works are shown for a period of two years.
Inhotim promotes long-term exhibits of special selections from its collection, offering an exciting overview of contemporary production. The exhibitions offer a synthesis of the diverse fields of current artistic strategies, creating a dialogue of Minas, Brazilian and international artists, some of which are represented with works considered as having historical relevance.
Nine New Destinations
Large-scale works of art built site-specific to Inhotim’s unique facilities were inaugurated in October’2009. The new works are by the artists Chris Burden, Doug Aitken, Edgard de Souza, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Jorge Macchi, Matthew Barney, Rivane Neuenschwander, Valeska Soares, and Yayoi Kusama. The opening event has been named “Nine New Destinations” and, according to Jochen Volz, Instituto Inhotim’s Artistic-Director and one of the curators, “the idea of destination is the place’s very essence. After all, Instituto Inhotim is not a place one passes by. Inhotim is always a destination.”
Many projects have been developed under the site-specific concept, that is, the artists designed the works making use of the possibilities offered by the place chosen for the assembly. The work starts to be conceived in an interaction among the artist, the setting, the institution, and the possibility of achieving, many times, a dream, as in the Argentine Jorge Macchi’s “Piscina,” in which a two-dimensional watercolor has become, at Inhotim, a three-dimensional swimming pool with steps that refer to a phone catalogue.
With the new works, Inhotim broadens the concept of what an exhibition space is. There will be works assembled at the top of a mountain, inside dense woods, amidst eucalyptus trees, and behind a large lake. This is an innovative curatorial proposal and the result of years of teamwork between a great staff and the artists.
Collection Focus
History
Inhotim was first opened to the public in September of 2004. The following year it started offering guided tours for local school groups and people with specific interests. In October 2006, with its full infrastructure in place, it finally opened its doors to the general public on certain days of the week, without need for prior scheduling.
Information compiled from press material provided by the institution.
