INHOTIM

Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2012

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The Instituto Inhotim is a Contemporary Art Center and Botanical Garden located in Brumadinho, 60 km away from Belo Horizonte, MG. Its 140 hectare visitation area is made up of forest fragments and gardens, with an extensive collection of rare tropical species and where contemporary art works of international relevance are installed.

Inhotim was conceived by the Minas-born entrepreneur Bernardo Paz and was opened to the public in 2006. It is strongly committed with the development of the community in which it is included. 

 

Paz soon converted the then 3,000-acre ranch into a sprawling, 5,000-acre botanical garden designed by his friend, the late landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx. The project began when Brazilian contemporary artist Tunga persuaded Paz to start collecting contemporary art. Eventually, he allowed artists all the space and resources they needed to create larger-than-life works. The garden, which boasts two dozen art “pavilions”, opened to the public in 2006. The pavilions include more than 500 works by noted Brazilian and international artists, such as Hélio Oiticica, Yayoi Kusama, Anish Kapoor, Thomas Hirschhorn, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Steve McQueen, Cildo Meireles and Vik Muniz. One pavilion is devoted to one of Paz′s ex-wives, the Brazilian artist Adriana Varejгo.

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The institute has a total area of 1942.25 acres, mostly located in the biome of the Atlantic Forest. Of the total area, 1087.26 acres are marked as preservation areas, of which 359 acres are part of the Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural RPPN, which makes it a natural heritage site. These geographic features made it possible for Inhotim to house a botanical garden, which has been developing since it was opened.
 

In 2011, Inhotim joined the Brazilian government's official botanical garden association, and the staff has begun an inventory of its 5,000 plant species, including 1,300 types of palm alone. This represents more than 28% of botanical families known to man, and helped the institution receive the title of Private Reserve of Natural Patrimony of Inhotim.

 

Pictures were taken in 2012.