After Inhotim, Bernardo Paz is building another giant art museum
The Brazilian collector behind Inhotim is creating a new 126-hectare museum in Brumadinho, with more than 20 galleries and pavilions planned for the site.
Bernardo Paz, the Brazilian collector who created Inhotim, is building another major art museum in the Minas Gerais countryside. Museu Bernardo Paz will cover 126 hectares (311 acres) in Brumadinho, with more than 20 galleries and pavilions, outdoor sculptures and installations, a botanical park and a community centre with a library and art studios. The first phase is due to open in September 2027.
The project is being developed in stages and will bring together established international artists with a younger generation from Brazil and elsewhere in South America.
The first phase will include pavilions devoted to Michael Heizer, Anna Maria Maiolino, Sonia Gomes, Pedro Moraleida, Sandra Gamarra and Laura Belém, as well as large-scale works by Frida Orupabo, Mario Garcia Torres, Torkwase Dyson and Giuseppe Penone.
Heizer is likely to be one of the biggest draws. The American artist, who became a leading figure in the Land Art movement, will have a dedicated pavilion housing Displaced Replaced Mass #3 and Negative Wall Sculpture #1. The museum says it will be his first permanent installation in Latin America.
Outdoor installations and sculptures will be placed throughout the grounds. Paz has also designed the planting with the influence of Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, with 15,000 trees and one million shrubs, cacti and flowering plants planned across the site.
A community centre at the entrance will include a library and art studios for Brumadinho residents. The project also promises employment, educational programmes and economic activity through tourism.
Paz founded Inhotim in 2004, turning a private estate into an internationally recognised combination of contemporary art museum and botanical garden. In 2022, he donated the cultural property to the nonprofit organisation that runs it, giving Inhotim its own leadership and governance.
Foto | Photo Niin Content / Debora Guimarães
Now he is building another museum in the same region.
Museu Bernardo Paz will also be an independent nonprofit, with Paz funding its development himself. It will draw on his collection of around 3,000 works, although the museum has not yet said how much of the collection will be displayed there.
The relationship between the two institutions will be worth watching. They are intended to remain independent, but the announcement says they are developing ways to “coexist and collaborate”. Given their shared founder and proximity, further details about loans, joint projects or other forms of collaboration will be significant.
The project has also yet to disclose its overall investment or long-term operating budget, while the September 2027 date applies to the first phase rather than the completed museum.
The first phase is due to open in September 2027. What happens then will help answer a more interesting question: how does a second museum built by the founder of Inhotim fit into the cultural ecosystem he has already created in Brumadinho?
Featured image: Niin Content / Debora Guimarães, Divulgação
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
