Museo del Barro — Attraction in Asuncion

A whirlwind of South American art, from pre-Columbian to contemporary and spanning pretty much all media (sculpture, painting, textile, photographic and so on) and genres, from figurative to conceptual. The museum is not huge, but it is brimful of art objects. To me it lacks some organization of the exposition, there is no clear logical path from a room to the next and some more explanation of what's on display. I found the pre-Columbian sculpture to be the most interesting, but the overall feeling of being immersed in an ever changing kaleidoscope of art was also thrilling. The entrance ticket of about 7 US Dollars equivalent is more than fair, but it is even better on Fridays and Saturdays, when the entrance is completely free! Judging from the visitor logbook it would seem that the museum is more popular amongst foreigners and tourist than the local Paraguayan, and it is in fact an excellent way to have a 360 degrees glimpse of Paraguayan art through the centuries and up to the XXI century. Highly...

Okay museum, rather disappointed after all the hype. Great pre-Columbian collection, probably the best in the southern cone and very well labeled. Large collection of colonial religious art, but very poorly labeled. (If interested in art from the Jesuit and Franciscan missions in paraguay, much better to visit the Sacred Art Museum downtown, beautifully done.) The contemporary collections were disappointing. The indigenous collections just seem like tourist trinkets commissioned for the museum. (If interested in indigenous artifacts, much better to visit the ethnographic museum downtown - it has one of the best collections in all of LATAM.) Make sure to visit the bathrooms, which are filled with exhibits.

If you only visit one museum in Asunción, I guess this one is okay. But besides pre-Columbian art, the many specialty museums...

The museum itself is a relatively small two-story building with a small interior courtyard. The only reason to go there is to see the works by Carlos Colombino. One work fills an entire wall, there are some of his political works, and there are two objets d'art. The rest of this museum is filled with a bizarre mix of artifacts from other countries, a room full of various crosses and other things related to the Catholic history of the region, and modern art including performance art that is best compared to the Dada movement in France. There is a small museum store with an attendant, and the large Colombino book is sold here. The coffee shop is closed. Even with its shortcomings, this is the best museum Paraguay has to offer, and it is a private museum. If you know anything about South America, you...