Museo del Bicentenario

Museo del Bicentenario Review

Today, the River Plate is nowhere in sight, but the humming traffic circle that overlooks this underground museum behind the Casa Rosada was once on the waterfront. The brick vaults, pillars, and wooden pulley mechanisms are the remains of the 1845 Taylor Customs House and jetty, discovered after being buried for almost a century. In honor of Argentina's 2010 bicentennary celebrations the structure was restored and covered with a glass roof.

Each vault has been assigned a segment of Argentina's political history, told through historic objects—often personal possessions of those who governed from the house overhead—paintings, photographs, film reels, and interactive screens.

Temporary art exhibitions run on the other side of the museum courtyard. However, the large glass structure in the center contains the real star of the show: a 360-degree masterpiece by Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros which originally covered the walls, floor, and ceiling of a basement room in a client's house. The house was demolished in the the early 1990s, and the mural carefully removed in pieces, only to languish in a shipping container for 17 years. Thankfully, Siqueiros's innovative use of industrial paint meant that damage was minimal. Prompted by the campaigns of committed art activists, President Cristina Fernández intervened and the mural has now been fully restored and reassembled here. After donning protective shoes, you cross a small passageway into the work, which represents an underwater scene, against which the feet and faces of swimmers seem to press. The only male figure (swimming upwards on the wall opposite the entrance) is said to represent the artist.

A café at the back of the museum offers coffee, sandwiches, and salads, and a daily set lunch menu.