This is one of those days you want to do everything since it's your last day, at risk that the plan collapses any moment because of unforeseen circumstances.
We rush into the city visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica at the Bolivar Park. The interior is impressive because of the sobriety. I'm wondering if we would keep our churches open in Europe and not asking entrance money ... maybe people will stop and pass by for a short prayer or mediation as I have seen in ALL churches in Colombia.
A run into the flea market. Buying Botero buttons (I like the three bees!) in Antioquia museum and taking the Metro; Medellin is the only city in Colombia to have one. We continue our trip with the Metro Cable, an extension of the metro with a gondola lift system that brings us to the hills of the city where the poor inhabitants of the city live. It was designed to reach some of the least developed suburban areas of Medellin. Despite clear poverty I'm impressed what people do to make their houses and streets look pretty.
Halfway we quit the Cable metro to visit the El Parque Biblioteca Pública España, also known as Biblioteca España,
Spain Park Public Library, better known as Library Spain, is part of a series of urban projects and social development in this area of Medellin for the cultural and social transformation of the city.
For this work the architect Giancarlo Mazzanti has been awarded, at the Sixth Ibero-American Biennale of Architecture and Planning, Lisbon 2008.
Library named after Spain in honor of the contribution made by the government through the Spanish International Cooperation Agency with the provision of an auditorium.
The site consists of small brick houses fruit of self construction waste and green areas, all because of inability to build in the area on the slopes so steep. This organization produces a uniform texture of town without any visible element of hierarchy, which is why the proposed building in the city seeks to excel as a building-landscape, as an icon, built in the place and keeps the tension, geography as an element of hierarchy and the architecture and texture.
The project is visible from much of the city, as symbol of the new Medellin, making people identify their sector and develop a greater sense of belonging, so much so that today is one of the sights of the area.
The project is located in one of the sides most affected by the violence of the eighties, Santo Domingo, drug product that operates in the city of Medellin, capital of Antioquia department, Colombia, and part of the social inclusion agenda City Hall to provide equal opportunities in social and economic development to the people.(Source: WIKIARQUITECTURA)
Several activities are going on and we visit a small exhibition about how locals advertise and look at publicity. The Biblioteca España seems to contribute a lot to the development of the area and for the personal development of the inhabitants.
Outside of the building a boy starts to give us spontaneously a history of the area. For sure we reward him for his clear speech.
Next stop, a traditional meal in one of Neiler's favorite almuerzo places.
Up to grand finale and also the last official place to visit during my Colombia holidays:
Museo De Arte Moderno.
At my surprise the whole museum is dedicated to an exhibition about Louis Caballero, a most fantastic Colombian painter, which I discovered through Ana since my arrival one month ago. The exhibition lasts till March 3. Sometimes you are lucky in life... sometimes!
His earliest paintings, executed in oil on paper in the late 1960s, represent large and energetic nudes—influenced by the work of Francis Bacon—among gestural splashes of intense color. He subsequently toned down his use of color and began to work from life, showing the human body in varied postures indicative of emotion and energy. He used sexuality and his own erotic pleasure as a means of heightening the impact of his nude figures, which he described as painted ‘with semen, not turpentine’. His exclusive subjects in later paintings were athletic young men in recumbent positions, their expressions suggestive of a state of sexual trance or death. Violence, blood and suffering dominate images of figures piled together in dramatic orgies and states of sadness and desire, projecting an intensity of emotion rooted in Romanticism.
Grove Art excerpts - Electronic ©2003, Oxford Art Online
L. Caballero died in 1995. Since I have seen his work I can ad him to the small circle of my favorite painters, e.g. Hopper, Pollock...
This is the most perfect way to end my rush visit of Medellin. It tastes for more... a lot more!
Neiler and his gf decide to accompany me to the airport and with a last view from the surrounding hills I'm heading to the airport for a last return to Bogotá.
Harold and Neiler fulfilled their duties exemplary. They gave me 48 hours to fall in love with their city...
I became a worshipper!
A few hours later I'm in Bogotá for a last drink with the friends over there.
My heart is swollen, teeth clenched I hug goodbyes.
It's like self-flagellation.
I think I know why I like the work of Caballero, at least the reason for it.
I enjoyed a lot the description you made about Medellín, its architecture and social life, its art and flavour, your impressions and your SAD in between. Beautiful...
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