Museum Day

Thursday was going to be cloudy, with a good possibility of rain, so we decided it would be museum day. We had identified three in Las Palmas – two public art galleries and an ethnographic museum – that looked worth a visit. All are in Vegueta, the old section of town, within a couple of blocks of the cathedral. We drove in a little after two and parked at the same municipal lot just off the highway that we used the day we came in for Caitlin’s birthday. It’s a few blocks from the cathedral.

We had thought, from looking at its website, that the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno was a fairly substantial museum. We headed for it first, thinking that if we only had time for one museum, it should be this. It turned out to be a few rooms in a nicely restored old building, with a single exhibit, by a Caribbean artist, Raquel Paiewonsky, from Dominican Republic. It was – um, weird.

Raquel Paiewonsky

Paiewonsky works mostly in photography, but also fabric. There were large-scale photo portraits of women in various strange garments, presumably sewn by the artist. One was a long dress made of dishcloths – the dress itself was also on display in another room. One model wore a foam rubber suit with head piece that covered her from top to toe. Another was a quite elegant-looking long dress worn by an elegant-looking woman – with neat cut-outs to expose her nipples.

Raquel Paiewonsky

There was a video of naked men and women with phallic foam rubber head pieces, gamboling about in sand dunes acting out some obscure symbolic drama. Another piece was a pile of large fabric-covered disembodied breasts with nipples. Most interesting to me was the series of digital photo collages – very expertly done, as was all the photography – of famous buildings melded with human faces.

Okay then! Next?

The Centro de Artes Plásticas is a very short walk away. It’s another tiny museum. Only a single room was open this day, for an exhibit by Rocío Arévalo, a Spanish artist, originally from Chile. We both liked this one better. The show is a series of water colours in which human figures are juxtaposed with animals. Sometimes the human figures form part of the animal’s habitat. They’re amusing, well crafted and make you think about the relationship between man and nature. Why can’t more ‘conceptual’ art be like this?

Rocío Arévalo

Rocío Arévalo

It never occurred to us that we could see all three museums in one afternoon. We were scheduled to Skype with Caitlin and Bob later, so didn’t want to stay in town too late. But so far we’d spent less than an hour at it. So we went on to the Museo Canario, the ethnographic museum. We walked via Plaza de Santa Ana, the square in front of the cathedral, which is lined with elegant 18th century (I think) buildings. The weather was holding well: mostly cloudy, cool-ish, but no rain, very comfortable for touring.

Plaza de Santa Ana

Plaza de Santa Ana

Santa Ana Cathedral

The exhibits at the Museo Canario are labeled in Spanish only, but you can pay an extra Euro for an English audio guide. (Total price for the two of us: €6.80.) The English commentary is a little stodgy and professorial, but at least it's in proper English and well spoken by a professional actor. The museum exhibits are a bit dated but do a decent job telling the story of how pre-conquest Canarians lived. There are good exhibits, some with elaborate models, showing how they made pottery, farmed, made flour, built their homes – often carved out of the soft volcanic rock faces, or made by modifying natural caves.

                                                                                

Museo Canario: partially mummified head

Museo Canario

The museum goes off the rails a little with the section on practices around death – the Canarians mummified their dead – and the ethnographic study of human remains. The exhibits are visually stunning, but macabre to say the least. One room is lined with glass cases containing neatly arranged skulls of long dead Canarians,. There are also floor-standing cases with unwrapped mummies.

Museo Canario

Museo Canario

If the Canarians had survived, distinct from the Europeans who conquered them – which they did not – they would surely have been deeply upset at the cold and disrespectful way the remains of their ancestors are displayed here. Just as native North Americans have been outraged by displays of human remains in ethnographic museums at home. We have no trouble sympathizing with the feelings of indigenous North Americans on this score. So the question is, should we, in this day and age, tolerate museum displays of these people?

They were people after all. And their genes live on in today’s Canarian population – although people here clearly self-identify as European. They were also a people who venerated their dead. Perhaps we should too? It’s a tough one. Where do you draw the line? Should we also give up being able to study and view 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummies?

Las Palmas, Vegueta district

We walked in a slightly circuitous route back to the car, via the Palace of Justice, enjoying the streetscapes. It’s a pretty area. We were home in plenty of time for a nice long chat with Caitlin.

Las Palmas, Vegueta district

Las Palmas, Vegueta district

Today, Friday, is like a snow day at home: solid rain all day. We are staying in but not happy about it.