On my first day in Bogotá, I decided to start by visiting the two museums that interested me most: the museum of modern art and the gold museum.
The gold museum has a huge collection of gold work from all over Colombia. The exposition is grouped into three thematic aspects. First, the techniques of gold working are introduced, then pieces are displayed according to the region or culture that produced them, and finally their spiritual purpose is explained.
The part I found most fascinating was the explanation of the different techniques. I didn't know a lot about gold working, and the explanations were an excellent opportunity to learn more. They even included a video where the techniques were demonstrated.
The lost wax technique, for example, starts with the creation of a wax model of the final product. This model is then covered with clay. When the clay is heated in an oven to create a mold, the wax melts and flows out of the mold. In the next step, metal is melted and filled into the pre-heated mold. The mold has to be hot to make sure that the metal doesn't become solid too soon. When mold and metal have cooled down, the mold is broken and removed to reveal the final metal product. The amount of detail the goldsmiths achieved using this technique is amazing - just look at this earring:
Another technique was hammering and embossing. For this, the metal had to be heated repeatedly to prevent it from breaking during the hammering process, much like what blacksmiths always do in the movies ;-) This is a piece created using this technique:
Another thing you can see in this picture is how small breaks - caused by long and heavy usage of the object - were repaired using small metal bands.
One of the most elaborate exhibits in the museum was this boat, apparently designed to be an offering to the gods:
There couldn't have been a bigger contrast to the centuries old world of mythology in the gold museum than the museum of modern art.
I particularly liked the part where the real-world sun added a light-and-shadow dimension to these three black-and-white pieces:
On my way back to the hostel, I saw a graffiti sprayer at work. Apparently, sprayers are not frowned upon in Bogotá. The many walls adorned with graffiti are witnesses to this.
The gold museum has a huge collection of gold work from all over Colombia. The exposition is grouped into three thematic aspects. First, the techniques of gold working are introduced, then pieces are displayed according to the region or culture that produced them, and finally their spiritual purpose is explained.
The part I found most fascinating was the explanation of the different techniques. I didn't know a lot about gold working, and the explanations were an excellent opportunity to learn more. They even included a video where the techniques were demonstrated.
The lost wax technique, for example, starts with the creation of a wax model of the final product. This model is then covered with clay. When the clay is heated in an oven to create a mold, the wax melts and flows out of the mold. In the next step, metal is melted and filled into the pre-heated mold. The mold has to be hot to make sure that the metal doesn't become solid too soon. When mold and metal have cooled down, the mold is broken and removed to reveal the final metal product. The amount of detail the goldsmiths achieved using this technique is amazing - just look at this earring:
Another technique was hammering and embossing. For this, the metal had to be heated repeatedly to prevent it from breaking during the hammering process, much like what blacksmiths always do in the movies ;-) This is a piece created using this technique:
Another thing you can see in this picture is how small breaks - caused by long and heavy usage of the object - were repaired using small metal bands.
One of the most elaborate exhibits in the museum was this boat, apparently designed to be an offering to the gods:
There couldn't have been a bigger contrast to the centuries old world of mythology in the gold museum than the museum of modern art.
I particularly liked the part where the real-world sun added a light-and-shadow dimension to these three black-and-white pieces:
On my way back to the hostel, I saw a graffiti sprayer at work. Apparently, sprayers are not frowned upon in Bogotá. The many walls adorned with graffiti are witnesses to this.
