Our Saturday visits to the Museum of Antioquia was an educative one because I got a better understanding of Colombia’s artistic creativity.
The Museum of Antioquia is an art museum in Medellin, Colombia. It houses a large collection of works by Medellín native Fernando Botero and Pedro Nel Gomez. It was the first museum established in the department of Antioquia and the second in Colombia. The museum is located in the center of Medellín on the Plaza Botero near the Parque Berrío metro station.
All over the city as well, you can see the footprints that art has left in its sand. At the museum, works of art by different Columbian artists are exhibited. You may also come across sculptures on the main avenues in the city.
There are more than a dozen fine museums in Medellin. The Museo de Antioquia, located in the heart of Centro, is one of the most popular. A few of the many permanent galleries include: Pre Hispanic, Colonial and Republican, Murals, Photographs, National Artists, International Artists, Sculptures, Contemporary, you name it.
Our tour guide at the museum showed us a power point presentation about some of the works of the museum in trying to bring peace in Columbia. It was impressive to me, because in our own country our museum looks like a store filled with old and dirty household stuff.
We were taken on a tour of some of the artistic work done by Botero and Pedro Nel Gomez with other female artists. In one of Botero’s paintings it portrayed violence in Columbia.
The one artistic work that captured my attention was the one displaying the way women were treated in the early 60s. It was more or less the same way women are treated now in Sierra Leone. I said to myself this problem is a universal one.
Out of the museum we saw many of the sculptures donated by Fernando Botero.
After the visit the Liberian and Sierra Leonean participants went for shopping but eventually our bus driver dropped us off at one of the shopping malls called Exito. The prices of things are expensive compared to Sierra Leone. For example their 20,000 pesos is $10 United States Dollars. Each time I check it in Leones, I say to myself I don’t think I will buy anything. But moving around the mall, I saw many beautiful things that caught my attention. I was like in a state of confusion until later I made up my mind to return back to the hotel and rest.
Eventually, some of the Liberian and Sierra Leonean participants went to another mull just to look for cheaper things. I went to the hotel and joined Ibhrahim Samura and Christian Lawrence. But before we left for shopping one of the Columbian participants Octavio announced to us that he will be taking us to a theatre to watch concert. It was agreed by everybody. But later I could not make it because I was afraid to move or walk around just because of the violence in Medellin.
The next day, on Sunday I was tired and could not take by breakfast at the restaurant, I had to make an order and eat in my room. I had to manage to eat like always because of the type of food. I was just eating for my stomach sake. The only food I enjoy is breakfast because there is variety but for lunch and dinner I just eat for my stomach sake.
At around 3 o’clock in the afternoon sitting alone as all of the other participants have gone to a village, one of the hotel workers walked to me and asked why I did not join my colleagues. I said to him, I never knew they were going out. He volunteered to take me around Medellin and to shopping malls. We took a train at the strain station and headed south of Medellin. At the station I saw so many blacks. I said to myself anywhere you go in this world you will see black and asian people. They were looking at me because I was speaking English and not Spanish and the hotel worker asked me if I knew them. I responded no and he asked them in Spanish if they are from Africa. They replied no and said they are Columbians. Then in the train, I met another black gentle man, I greeted him in English and he responded. I felt happy because I have met my African brother with whom I can communicate. We kept talking until he missed his destination. He had to stop at another landing point which was our destination and he told me he is going to take a bus to his destination. While waiting for the bus, he explained that they have a community where the black people live happily and most of them are engaged in arts and craft.
On our way to the hotel, I noticed that most of the mad and poor people in Medellin are blacks. Trading on the street you find more blacks and they are even doing odd jobs like street cleaning and women were also involved in prostitution.
By Abibatu Kamara