‘Light in the Temple’: The Influence of Mouseion and the New International Museology in the Rooms of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

This article analyses the changes that took place in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (the National Museum of Fine Arts) of Argentina in the 1930s. Founded in 1895, it moved to a new building in 1933, leaving behind the chaotic display of the 19th-century pavilion that used to host its collections. The newly relocated museum then revealed a brand-new museography, which implied radical changes in its display methods and artwork selection. The main person responsible for this revamping was Atilio Chiáppori, its Director. An avid reader of Mouseion, he edited the Boletín del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, where he published articles – that he translated into Spanish himself – for the Argentinian public to read. Our article aims to understand the influence of the International Museums Office – International Council of Museum’s direct ancestor – and Mouseion in Argentina, taking the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes as a case study. We will trace the influence of the debates conveyed by this magazine in the 1930s to better comprehend the place of Argentina within the context of the birth of museography as we know it today, and within newly born multilateral organisations like the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. Along with the study of the Museum’s Boletín and its photographic archives, we will also dig into Mouseion’s pages and the proceedings of the famous 1934 Muséographie conference. By reviewing these sources together with Luz en el Templo, the memoir written by Chiáppori about his time as a museum director, we will try to understand the transformation of a 19th-century museum for the elite into a place of public education and debate.