INHOTIM? What is that? Is that a name? Never heard of it. True for some people. For other ones a jewel kept in secret, when they have time to travel to the countryside of Minas Gerais State, at southeast of Brazil. If they like art, they won´t miss. If they enjoy nature, they know it will worth.
Imagine a huge park surrounded by astonishing nature with lakes and charmingly landscaped gardens, add several works of art - sculptures, paintings, installations, drawings, videos or photographs from significant international contemporary artists. Mix everything with a trained and committed team of co-workers and young native labor force, an efficient organizational structure and that it is. Is it?? Fortunately not, because I am talking about an endless experience, difficult to put into words if we consider its uniqueness.
View from one of the lakes with the installation of the Brazilian artist Helio Oiticica in the background
What differentiates INHOTIM from other galleries in the world is exactly the way the space is democratically conceived and meticulously designed to dazzle all kind of visitors, from the baby to the elder, from the student to the curator, from the housewife with kids to the businessman, from the easygoing fellow to the demanding customer.
Tunga, Cildo Meirelles, Helio Oiticica, Amilcar de Castro, Adriana Varejão - references in the history of Brazilian contemporary art, share the environment with renowned international artists like Zhang Huan from China, Chris Burden and Matthew Barney from USA, Cardiff & Miller from Canadá, Olafur Eliasson from Denmark, Guiseppe Penone from Italy, amongst others. Some of them came to INHOTIM to analyze, develop and produce the work of art specifically for the site.
"Viewing Machine" by the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson
The internal view through the work of art of Eliasson
Curious about something that you do not have a clue what represents? You will not feel lost in space. If you don´t have any theoretical background about art, stakes with trilingual technical explanation will help you to interact or even be inspired by the work.
"Troca-troca", by the Brazilian artist Jarbas Lopes
You won´t see people with the usual audio phones you see in other traditional museums. The philosophy is to promote the eye-to-eye experience. Sharing ideas and insights is the purpose of the trained guides who lead groups to explore the area considering the artistic or botanical approaches.
However art would never reach the highest standard and glamour here if we disregard the environment. Surrounded by a powerful nature, represented by hundreds of palm trees, pieces of the Atlantic forest mixed with the Brazilian savannah, you will feel involved by pleasant sensations of well-being and integration. Moreover it is inevitable to refresh your mind and soul or simply enjoy idleness in one of the several corners of INHOTIM. Strategically located they are furnished with the spectacular eco-friendly wooden pieces created by the Brazilian designer Hugo França, who has maximized the innate features of pequi trees, originating in Brazil´s Atlantic forest.
Tired of walking a lot? Golf carts can help you to reach the highest place or the art piece set up in the opposite side and also works as an unforgettable memory for kids.
Hungry? Fancy and modern restaurants with whimsical food offer buffet system or menu a la carte will compell you to complement the experience with the flavored Brazilian gastronomy. However considering all types of visitors - and budgets, the park also has a cafeteria where you can grab snacks with a premium coffee, a hot dog booth and even a pizza place.
Tamboril Restaurant
A general concern in open huge spaces, the restrooms are located all over the site, often supplied by toilet paper, soap and a delicate decoration ornament. Cleanliness and care that are not unnoticed by the visitors.
Behind the scenes, there is the mind, the heart, the hands and also the money of Bernardo Paz, a Brazilian former executive from the mining field and open-minded entrepreneur, who decided to transform his huge farm in a magic space in the 80’s. Influenced by his Brazilian friend and famous landscape architect Burle Marx, he started to improve the landscape design of the lush gardens. Next step was to follow the advice of Tunga, another close friend, by choosing art as the ultimate hook to instigate and surprise the visitors. The building of art pavilions, installations and the deep contact with artists was a consequence. Nowadays surrounded by a sharp team of curators, landscape architects, designers, engineers and devoted professionals, the INHOTIM INSTITUTE, that covers an area of 94 ha (about 232 acres), employs around 900 people and receives thousands of visitors monthly, being the majority of them students from public schools in the region.
Low profile, Paz can be found strolling in the middle of the gardens, welcoming his famous international guests or having lunch at one the good restaurants in INHOTIM. By talking to him personally, I got the confirmation that the boutique hotel for high-end guests should be finished in a year and a half. A hostel, a venue for events and an airport are also forecast for the future.
His personal dream of building an Art Disneyland, where people can spend three to five days, is not impossible to come true. By reconfirming the proverb that the eye and presence of the owner is crucial to get the engine working accurately, he pursues his goals of boosting art, of revering and preserving the biodiversity, of generating education and jobs for the local community and of showing a remarkable and innovative face of Brazil, that all of us are proud of.
MORE INFO:
INHOTIM is located in the city of Brumadinho, 60 km away from Belo Horizonte, capital of State of Minas Gerais, southeast of Brazil.
BY AIR: the offer of air flights from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro cities to Belo Horizonte is huge and easy to book. From Belo Horizonte, you will need ground transportation to reach Brumadinho however the journey takes time, considering the traffic and the highways.
If you are taking an helicopter, you should contact INHOTIM firstly to land in its own path.
BY CAR:
São Paulo - Belo Horizonte - 586 km - about 8 hours
Rio de Janeiro - Belo Horizonte - 434 km - about 6 hours
Belo Horizonte - Brumadinho - 60 km - about 1,30h
HOTELS: With a population of 35.000 inhabitants, the city of Brumadinho has been changing since INHOTIM has been established in the region. Budget accommodations should be found in the city easily. Sophisticated hotel structures are 20 minutes to one hour distance by car. INHOTIM´s website - www.inhotim.org.br gives plenty of information concerning accommodations.
INHOTIM is also a fantastic complementary destination for the ones who have visited the historical cities of Ouro Preto, Diamantina or Tiradentes, in Minas Gerais State. The contrast between the eighteen century baroque art and architecture from these historical itineraries and the contemporary scenario and exuberant landscape of INHOTIM makes the trip a knowledgeable, intriguing and unprecedented destination in Brazil.
Eliana Souza, the Brazil Business Tourism Specialist for C Level executives. www.spintours.com.br eliana.souza@spintours.com.br
