Museo de La Solidaridad Salvador Allende

NileGuide Expert tip:

Come on a Sunday to have the place to yourself and to get in free, though it closes at 6:00 PM.

Description:

• There is a long political history to this lovely, medium-sized musem in an example of classic architecture in Santiago's student neighborhood, Republica. It starts with artists sympathetic to the then president Salvador Allende's government donating their works to develop an international museum. Three important artists of the time proposed the museum project to Allende Un acercamiento a la historia del Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, and between 1971 and 1973, the museum received more than 500 works, including paintings, etchings, sculptures, drawings, tapestries and photos.
  
  Over time, and galvanized by the presence of the dictatorship, in Chile, more artists pulled together works to later donate, and after the restoration of democracy, the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum) reopened in 1991, after which time even more pieces of art were donated. Donating artists include Joan Miro, Frank Stella, Alexander Caldor, and Victor Varasely.
  
  Most of the museum is artistic, rather than historical in nature, though some of the rooms house information about the end of Salvador Allende's presidency. It's a short walk from the Republica Metro, a bit off the beaten path, and thoroughly worthwhile. Closed Mondays.
  
  
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