Bogota‘s Botero Museum began offering new audio guides exploring over 60 works of art in either Spanish, English or French.
Visitors of the museum can take a mapped-out, one-hour guided tour of 62 of the museum’s most famous pieces of art or mix and match by wandering at their own pace and choosing which exhibits they would like to hear more about.
“We [already] offer the visitors of El Botero different alternatives in order to get close and know the works: workshops directed at different audiences, guided tours, conferences, etc. In this sense, the audio guides will allow a freer, and more autonomous interaction, one that would allow the visitor to decide what he is interested in knowing and the way to do it,” Laura Duque from the Central Bank told art website, Arte en La Red.
The audio guides offer general information about themes of rooms, and more detailed facts about the artist, the respective artistic movement, and the historical context behind each work. Such works include international 19th and 20th century drawings as well as several pieces donated by accomplished Medellín artist, Fernando Botero.
The audio guides were a project developed and supported by the Foundation of Friends of the Republic’s Art Collections and the Central Bank with help from the Caja Social bank, and were conceived in part due to an increase in foreign tourism.
In the future, the museum hopes to expand the size of the collection available on the audio guides and offer versions for children.
To rent an audio guide costs roughly $3 in the gift shop at the entrance to the museum.
The Botero Museum operates Monday through Saturday from 9AM to 7PM. Sundays and holidays from 10AM to 5PM and is closed on Tuesdays.
Sources
- El Museo Botero también se recorre en otros idiomas (El Tiempo)
- Recorre El Museo Botero a tu ritmo (Arte en la Red)
- Audio Guías en El Museo Botero (Museo Botero)