After being closed to the public for three years, and to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding, the Museo Colonia reopens its doors following a complete revamping of the space in museographic and museological terms and as the institution's home.
The Claustro de las Aulas, the building that houses the museum, has been turned into a twenty-first century space that nonetheless continues to have elements of a seventeenth century architectural jewel. This marriage between the old and the new was possible because of the tireless work and dedication invested during the time that it remained closed to the public, which led to a transformation that included the restoration and structural strengthening of the 797-square-meter building. The revamping included the structuration of a new museum-oriented narrative that took into account curatorial research, the design and production of museographic furniture, as well as lighting, texts, and technological support for the various exhibition spaces. New additional furniture was created for the conservation and safekeeping of its collection. A real time environmental monitoring system was purchased and the closed circuit television that monitors the entire museum was updated.
The Museo Colonial houses an art collection that contains a total of 1,605 works. The institution is the custodian of the largest colonial heritage collection open to the public in Colombia and of the most important collection of paintings attributed to Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos (1638-1711), an emblematic figure of colonial painting in Colombia.
With the revamping, visitors will be able to enjoy the works in an area that consists of five exhibition rooms. There, they will have access to interactive experiences associated with the colonial period and will be able to establish connections between past and present. For this adaptation of the space, the Colombian Ministry of Culture invested nearly 9,000.00 million Colombian pesos. The project was spearheaded by Costanza Toquica (director of the Museo Colonial-Santa Clara) in collaboration with a working team formed by historians, restorers, museologists, designers and communicators. They in turn were supported by visual artists, cultural studies experts and national and international museologists who contributed to the construction of a narrative designed to convey the transformations that have been taking place in Colombia since the colonial period as well as the elements from that past that still survive today.
Carrera 6 No. 9 – 77 / Te.: (+571) 341 6017
Hours:
Tuesday to Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (last admission at 4:30 pm)
Saturday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm (last admission 3:30 pm)