Museums

Museums
Today is my wedding anniversary. So, I suggested that we go see Jaulabra. Jaulabra is an installation project created by the Puerto Rican artist Antonio Martorell. We left the house around 1:30 and set out to San Juan. We were both certain that the project which we had seen reviewed on TV and the newspapers would be at the Museo de Puerto Rico. When we got there and after we had already paid the entrance fee, we were told that the Martorell piece we went searching for was at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. We had already paid and our last visit to the MAp had been some three or four years ago so we figured we'd see the new stuff. I'm certainly glad we did for there was an interesting exhibit by an artist named José Alicea. It was dedicated to Neruda, the Chilean poet, but there were pieces that were about Lorca and Che Guevara. His work has a political edge that appeals to me. There is a denunciation of the war and the many tyrannies in Spain, and South America. Moving pieces with fragments of newspapers, real ones, plastered in with the rest of the work.

We then dashed over to MAC. When we got there we were told they closed at four, and as luck would have it, it was five to four. The woman at the reception noticed our frustration and asked us if we couldn't come by tomorrow. We told her we come from far. She relented and let us go upstairs in hopes that we could convince the person in charge to let us see Jaulabra if nothing else. We were satisfied since that was the object of our trip after all. But what do you know? When we reached the second floor, the woman in charge, Aurora, ushered us into the room and even gave us a tour, allowed us to touch the pieces and even wear the robes. Afterwards she even asked if we might be interested in watching "the making of." These people were just great! A young guy called Ramón who turned out to be a site designer for the museum took us to all of the other exhibits that would be leaving the museum soon. We were in awe. These people really wanted us to see the museum and enjoy the experience. I truly recommend the place.

I've failed to talk about Jaulabra so here's a link that will explain it: http://www.wrtu.org/articulo.php?id=714. OR http://zonai.com/noticia_mainm.asp?ZONAI:69111&pos=b&title=PALABRAS+DE+ALIENTO&catid=49

I also recommend the museum page. It takes a while to download so be patient. http://www.museocontemporaneopr.org/