Bernardo Paz Museum: what we know about the new museum next to Inhotim traduzido por: OPENROUTER

Bernardo Paz, founder of the Inhotim Institute, has announced the creation of a new museum that will bear his name in Brumadinho (MG). The Bernardo Paz Museum will occupy an area of 1.26 million m² (equivalent to 176 soccer fields) and will be built next to the institute. Dedicated to contemporary art, the project is born with the proposal of connecting the more than three thousand works in its collection to nature and to the local community.

Pavilhão de Michael Heizer no Museu Bernardo Paz (Paulo Kiyoshi Abreu Miyada/Divulgação)

One of the pillars of the new venture is the combination of individualized architecture and extensive landscaping. Thus, Bernardo Paz intends to repeat the formula that consolidated Inhotim as one of the most appreciated museums in the country: each artist will receive their own pavilion, designed specifically for their works – unlike traditional museums, in which different exhibitors share the same building.

Vegetação do futuro Museu Bernardo Paz (Photo Niin Content/Debora Guimarães/Divulgação)

The pre-opening of the Bernardo Paz Museum is scheduled for September 2027. Among the great names of contemporary art expected to make up the first phase of exhibitions are: Michael Heizer, Anna Maria Maiolino, Sonia Gomes, Pedro Moraleida, Sandra Gamarra, Laura Belém, Frida Orupabo, Mario Garcia Torres, Torkwase Dyson and Giuseppe Penone.

Structure focused on contemporary arts and the local population

With plans for up to 40 pavilions, the museum will bring together installations, paintings, sculptures and large-scale works. The person responsible for the artistic direction will be Paulo Miyada, former artistic director of the Tomie Ohtake Institute. He will develop the curatorial project, articulating the layout of the galleries, the collection and the natural landscape that shapes the architecture.

The structure of the Bernardo Paz Museum, however, goes beyond the exhibition space. The complex will feature a community center with a library and art studios dedicated to the population of Brumadinho; a pavilion dedicated to music and dance; as well as other tools intended to expand the park's cultural program.

Landscaping is also one of the highlights

Neighboring the Inhotim Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN Inhotim), the Bernardo Paz Museum will have landscaping as an inherent part of the visiting experience. The project relies on dense vegetation, with fruit-bearing and flowering trees strategically distributed to create different pathways throughout the park.

Galeria Laura Belém em meio à vegetação do futuro Museu Bernardo (Niin Content/Debora Guimarães /Divulgação)

In total, the planting of approximately 15 thousand trees and 1 million shrubs, cacti and flowers is planned. In this way, the new museum reinforces the proposal of integrating art, architecture and landscaping into a single experience.

Diversity of artists and languages

Obra de Sonia Gomes (Levi Fanan/Divulgação)

One of the structuring elements of the Bernardo Paz Museum is also the diversity of origins, generations, languages and practices among the works. More than gathering works, the proposal is to create relationships between the artists and the territory.

Among the names mentioned above, three of them have their presence confirmed already at the moment of the opening. The American Michael Heizer is one of the central names of land art, a strand that works the earth as a sculptural material, and will be given an exclusive pavilion. Anna Maria Maiolino, an Italian based in São Paulo, will present a version of "De Vita Migrare", a piece that had already been exhibited at the São Paulo Biennial in the 1990s.

The Minas Gerais native Sonia Gomes will also be given a space for her sculptures made with sewn and patched fabrics – including everything from small embroideries to large-scale suspended structures.

High investment

The estimated investment for the Bernardo Paz Museum is R$ 1 billion. With operations and management independent from Inhotim, the space is being structured as a non-profit organization. The venture is expected to use the founder's own private resources.

It is worth mentioning that, in 2022, Bernardo Paz donated the entire collection, the galleries, and the Inhotim grounds to an independent institute. The gesture marked the largest private donation in the history of Brazilian museums. Since then, the businessman has continued acquiring works and gathering a new set of pieces – which, added to the first collection, place Brumadinho in a unique position on the contemporary art map.

traduzido por: OPENROUTER