Bicentennial House
Destined to reflect upon the living Argentine history, the Bicentennial National House opened in March 2010. At present, two different shows are offered to the public: the permanent video installation “Many Voices. One History 1810-2010 “and the temporary exhibition ” Women 1810-2010 “. Admission is free, it is located in Riobamba 985 and opens Tuesday through Sunday from 2pm to 9pm. The complete schedule of activities and lectures can be found at www.casadelbicentenario.gov.ar
Director of the Bicentennial House since its creation in 2008, Liliana Piñeiro explains the objectives of the cultural center, provides details about the exhibitions that can be visited and anticipates the upcoming shows that will take place this year.
A graduate architect from the University of Buenos Aires, Piñeiro was General Director of the Recoleta Cultural Center between 2005 and 2007. She was an independent curator for several exhibitions, including the most recent ones by León Ferrari at the Carrillo Gil Museum in Mexico in 2008 and the 2009 Havana Biennial. She was also vice president of the Argentina International Foundation, aimed at developing cultural projects.
The Bicentennial National House is one of the projects developed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the May Revolution of 1810, which counts on the joint efforts from the Bicentennial units of the National Department of Culture and the Presidency of the Nation itself. This is a series of initiatives we have been working for the last two years, both in the creation of a program of activities as well as in the building remodeling.
The location of the house features two twin buildings from1913, which belonged to Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (the National Waterworks Company) and then passed onto the Organización Nacional de Administración de Bienes (the National Organization for Property Administration - ONABE). Then they became part of the heritage of the National Department of Culture, thus allowing the development of the program carried out by the house.
With a Beaux Arts style facade, the home is 3500 m2, distributed in a basement, a ground floor, four floors and a patio. This is a permanent space, which we hope will also become the Tricentennial House.
The aim is to develop exhibits, educational programs, activities of thought and reflection, cultural activities, etc. all interconnected by several topics in temporary exhibitions.
We work on issues that let us explore the Argentine history over the last 100 or 200 years and are related to our identities so that we are able to reflect upon very basic and deep questions: where we come from, who we are. But mostly, thinking about ourselves from a present moment and projecting into the future.
We want this to be a living thing, a very dynamic cultural space. In this house, it is very important the development of reflection spaces that generate a social debate. We aim at all of us feeling protagonists of the Bicentennial and not thinking that history only happens to others.
Each one of us is part of the Argentine history, and the House´s goal is that we feel part of this process and we can discuss and challenge it thus contributing to reflect upon this history we build every day.
The guided tours are structured through games, so that children can experience the topics within the exhibition. It is not so important the fact that they remember a date, place or a name, but the chance of transmitting those personal experiences.
The exhibitions will remain open to the public for several months because we want to work with schools and the general public. Then they will be displayed in the various provinces. Every place receiving them will join their local values, social and political situations, their characters, etc.
On the ground floor you can visit the exhibit “Many Voices. A History 1810-2010 “, a journey throughout the Argentine history. This is a video installation with six projectors, which will provide different perspectives on historical processes.
The four upper floors house the temporary exhibition “Women 1810-2010″, treated by the curator Valeria González, with the advice of Dora Barrancos, Mirta Lobato and Malosetti Laura Costa.
The temporary exhibition includes the production of visual artists, who account for certain problems not fully visible today and anticipate issues that will eventually happen. The narrative is enriched by the dialogue among the works of art and the objects, testimonies, archives. In addition, we propose reading living-rooms with bibliography previously used in the exhibits.
The next temporary upcoming events will be focused on the economic models and country projects that occurred in the last 200 years of the Argentine history; and the next, on the history of national music.
The contribution of the Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECI) allowed us to have the latest technology available and, thus, produce a large number of audiovisual works boosting the information transmitted on the walls and at home.
The main goal of the National Department of Culture is to achieve 200 Bicentennial Houses across the country, with multimedia areas to carry out concerts and plays. We are already working on the first 60 and the idea is to coordinate efforts with the Bicentennial House. We are also developing a number of television programs together with Canal Encuentro and the National University of Tres de Febrero.
BIcentenario.ar - Official Portal for Argentine Bicentennial
Tags: bicentennial, bicentennial house
