Museum of Pre-Columbian and Indigenous Art, Ethnographic museum in Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo, Uruguay
The Museum of Pre-Columbian and Indigenous Art in Montevideo houses archaeological finds, ethnographic objects, and musical instruments from different South American cultures. The collection spans multiple rooms and documents the material world of ancient societies.
The MAPI opened in 2004 after an agreement between the Intendencia de Montevideo and collector Matteo Goretti, whose donation formed the initial collection. The Emilio Reus building, erected between 1883 and 1888 as a hydrothermal medical establishment, had housed the Ministry of National Defense until 1985 and was declared a National Historic Monument in 1986. A restoration workshop created in 2011 has recovered more than 2,500 square metres of the building.
The acronym MAPI stands for Museo de Arte Precolombino e Indígena. The museum manages the Claudio Rama Vitale Collection of Latin American Masks, about nine hundred pieces from countries across the subcontinent, and holds ethnographic objects from North American indigenous peoples donated through the Augusto Torres and Elsa Andrada Collection.
The museum occupies the Emilio Reus building in Ciudad Vieja, a short walk from Montevideo's port area. It is closed on Mondays; Uruguayan pensioners, children under twelve, accredited journalists and ICOM members enter free. A restoration school and workshop created in 2011 has recovered more than 2,500 square metres of the building.
The museum manages the Claudio Rama Vitale Collection of Latin American Masks, about nine hundred pieces from across the subcontinent. It also holds ethnographic objects from North American indigenous peoples donated through the Augusto Torres and Elsa Andrada collection, and human remains and objects from the Bañadero archaeological site in Salto, recovered in 1975.
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