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Permanent Collections

1) Earliest inhabitants - 12,000 B.C.E.
An exhibit about the diverse ways of life of nomadic hunter-gatherers and farmers who lived approximately 12,000 years ago, as well as their process of adapting to sedentary village life, pottery making and agricultural practices. These artifacts comprise the oldest evidence of human presence in Colombia and were discovered through archeological research.

2) Tomb from the mountain highlands
of the Department of Nariño
A full-scale reproduction of the multiple-burial site of a thirteenth-century indigenous chieftain, with authentic artifacts from the Nariño culture. 

3) Pre-Hispanic sedentary groups 900 B.C.E. – 1500 C.E.
Showcases aspects of the great diversity of Pre-Hispanic culture: the development of hierarchical societies (chieftainships); the transformations of the landscape in order to build housing, plant crops, and construct canals and dikes for water control; regional and local trade; social and political organization and religious and burial rites.

4) Burial rites involving mummification in Colombia, 470 C.E.- 1750 C.E. A reconstruction of two settings (cave and niche) used as burial sites by Pre-Hispanic groups, such as the Muisca and the Lache, in various regions of this country. These human remains and burial urns, which were preserved due to favorable temperature conditions, provide us with evidence that enables us to expand our knowledge of the indigenous history of this country.

5) The Conquest: encounter or confrontation?
Illustrates a part of the historical period that began in 1492 and which we refer to as the Conquest (or La Conquista). It was during this time that men -whose physical, cultural and religious aspects were quite different from cultures then existing in the Americas- arrived in search of "El Dorado" and brought about confrontation and warfare. During La Conquista, ideological, nutritional, and artistic beliefs, along with different cultural and religious beliefs and foreign genetic material, were mixed with local traditions and phenotypes and the construction of present-day Colombia.

6) Vault containing gold articles
Exhibits the collection of Pre-Hispanic gold articles and the crown presented to the Liberator Simón Bolívar by the municipality of Cuzco in 1825.

Vessel
(The oldest such
piece found in situ
in Colombia)
 3100 b.c.e.
Ceramic. Conchero, Puerto Chacho,
Department of Bolvar

Anthropomorphic
figure with head in
the womb
500 b.c.e. to 1st
century c.e.
(relative chronology)
Ceramic. Tumaco,
Department of Nariño

7) Founders of the Republic
Pays homage to founding fathers Antonio Nariño, translator of "The Rights of Man and of the Citizen", Simón Bolívar, and Francisco de Paula Santander, whom Bolívar called "the man of laws."

8) Vault containing silver articles
Exhibits silver articles made during the Colonial and Republican periods, along with other pieces created during the first half of the twentieth century.

9) Nuevo Reino de Granada/ New Kingdom of Granada, 1550-1810
An exhibit of articles spanning three periods of fundamental importance from this era: the empire of Phillip II; the Counterreformation (featuring the effects on the arts with works from the school of Quito and from the vice regal period), which culminates with accounts from the Botanical Expedition, and the time of the first uprisings against Spanish rule. Also includes accounts of African slavery, the fugitive slave settlements, indigenous resistance to Hispanic culture, the corsairs, daily life, convent life and the fall of the Spanish empire.

10) Recent Acquisitions Gallery
Starting in December 2004, this gallery will feature objects recently acquired by the Museum.

11) Emancipation and the Republic, 1810-1830
Explores the struggles for independence, the first civil war, Spanish attempts at reconquest, Simón Bolívar's campaign for liberation and events during the organization of the newly formed Republic of Colombia.  

12) Cabinet of Miniatures
Allows visitors to appreciate miniatures created for the most part during the early nineteenth century by José María Espinosa, Pío Domínguez del Castillo and Lucas Torrijos, among other great Colombian and foreign miniaturists.

13) Federalism and centralism, 1830- 1886
Highlights portraits of members of the government, civil and religious struggles, the birth of political parties, the arrival of photography and foreign travelers, the status of women throughout the nineteenth century, the Chorography Commission, which contributed to knowledge of this country's physical characteristics, and the end of Radicalism. Also provides access to the Cabinet of Drawings and Graphic Arts.

Pedro José
Figueroa
Simón Bolvar
c 1820
Oil on canvas
 

Epifanio Garay
Por las velas el pan y el chocolate/
Candles, bread and chocolate
c 1881
Oil on wood

14)The Rotunda
Presents an overview of the history of painting in Colombia, from the colonial to the contemporary periods, by means of large format works by Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos, Epifanio Garay, Andrés de Santa María, Domingo Moreno Otero, Luis Alberto Acuña, Gonzalo Ariza, Alipio Jaramillo, Fernando Botero, Manuel Hernández, and Luis Caballero.

15) Republic of Colombia, 1886-1910
Provides an overview of the nationalist tendencies of the late nineteenth century, the transition from Radicalism to the Regeneration, the rise of the Academy, the War of a Thousand Days, the Separation of Panama and the Exposition commemorating the Centennial of Independence. 

16) Ideologies, art and industry, 1910-1948
Presents the political history and ideological evolution of this country prior to April 9, 1948. In the field of art, this exhibit explores Intimism, the nationalist approach to landscape painting, pride in the values of native cultures, the revival of interest in art dealing with national and regional customs, and the avant garde.  

17) The first moderns
Showcases works by some of the pioneers of modern art in Colombia: Alejandro Obregón, Guillermo Wiedemann, Edgar Negret, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, Enrique Grau and Fernando Botero.

 

Fernando Botero
La naranja /
The orange
1979
Oil on canvas

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