Page 109 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

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8 Biblioteca fascinating window not
Nacional only into the mind, but also
into the lifestyle of a brilliant
Agüero 2502. City Map 2 B2. writer-scholar.
Tel (011) 4808-6000. @ 60, 95, 130.
n photo ID required for entry.
Open Feb–Dec: 9am−9pm Mon−Fri, 0 Museo Xul Solar
noon−7pm Sat & Sun. Closed Jan.
8 3pm Mon, Tue, & Thu. 7 - Calle Laprida 1212. City Map 2 A3.
∑ bn.gov.ar Tel (011) 4824-3302.  Agüero. @
39, 68, 152. Open noon−8pm Tue−Fri,
One of the largest libraries in noon−7pm Sat. & 8 4pm Tue &
the Americas, Argentina’s Thu, 3:30pm Sat (by prior arrange-
Biblioteca Nacional houses a ment in English; call ahead to book).
vast collection exceeding two 7 ^ = ∑ xulsolar.org.ar
million volumes. Books, journals,
and important histor ical Once the residence of the
manuscripts are stored in its 19th-century porteño artist
huge underground vaults. These The personal library of Ricardo Rojas Xul Solar, this 20th-century
include a first edition of Don decorated with Inca symbols town house has been converted
Quixote, the personal literary into the excellent Museo Xul
collection of General Belgrano, his death in 1957. The house Solar. Described by Jorge Luis
and a 1455 Guten berg Bible. was donated to the country Borges as “one of the most
The library’s most treasured by his widow and opened as a singular events of our time,” Xul
possessions are books museum in 1958. Rojas Solar was an eccentric visionary.
that were printed remained fascinated On dis play at the museum are
before 1501. Among by the relationship his otherwordly paintings, done
these pieces are works between pre- mainly in watercolor and
by St. Augustine, Columbian and tempera. His art seems to be
Dante, and Cicero. colonial America, a blend of ideas drawn from
The building itself is which he conceived as various sources, such as
none too glamo rous; a dialogue as well as a Hieronymus Bosch, William
built on the site of the clash of cultures. Built Blake, and Jules Verne, while at
palace where the with a mix of Spanish the same time being entirely
Peróns lived, it is a Literary icon and Inca styles, the original. The cryptic landscapes
T-shaped slab of Jorge Luis Borges house was designed to he depicts are inhabited by
poured concrete that embody this doctrine. angels, demons, and jesters,
flaunts its functionality in classic This is particularly evident in flying reptiles and machines,
Brutalist style. Architect urally the patio and cloisters, where ladders that lead nowhere,
very popular when conceived in the columns are deco rated with and sphinxes restyled as cave
the 1960s, the look was slightly various traditional Inca symbols. paintings. Solar takes the
dated by the time it finally The façade mimics Casa viewer through a very bizarre
opened to the public in 1992. Histórica in Tucumán city. Rojas’s looking-glass world.
The position of library director furnish ings and household Apart from these paintings,
has been held by novelist José objects have also been well the museum contains a range
Marmol, historian Paul Groussac, preserved, along with his of equally bizarre objects from
and, most famously, author personal library, which Solar’s collection. These include
Jorge Luis Borges, all of whom comprises more than 20,000 quasi-scientific instru ments,
went blind during their terms. volumes. The museum is a masks, and sculptures.
9 Museo Casa de
Ricardo Rojas
Calle Charcas 2837. City Map 2 B3.
Tel (011) 4824-4038.  Agüero.
@ 39, 68, 152. Open 11am−7pm
Tue–Sat. 8 4pm Wed 7
∑ museorojas.cultura.gob.ar
This beautiful dwelling, set
rather incongruously amid the
residential high-rises of Barrio
Norte, was the home of the
notable writer and pedagogue
Ricardo Rojas from 1929 until Display of Xul Solar’s eccentric artwork at the Museo Xul Solar

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