The Instituto Inhotim is located in the town of Brumadinho, 60 km from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. I’d rather not use the term museum to refer to it as it does not do any justice to everything Inhotim has to offer. It contains a fantastic collection of contemporary art set in the middle of a stretch of Atlantic rainforest. The art collection lives side by side with the landscaping project of people like Roberto Burle Marx. At Inhotim the contemplation of art and the contemplation of nature go hand in hand.

Inhotim is a private non-profit organization set up in 2005 by a Brazilian entrepeneur. To host each work of art and installations a specific building was constructed. The art collection includes works by Brazilian and international artistas, from the 60′s to the present time. Between one building and another the visitor will find the wonderful botanic collections of the institute.

Inhotim and Belo Horizonte are not in most travellers’s itineraries and for that reason I dare not suggest that visiting Inhotim is a must. But if you find yourself in Belo Horizonte or visiting the Historical Cities of Minas Gerais (Ouro Preto, Mariana, Congonhas, Tiradentes, São João del Rei) I’d definitely make an effort to spend one day at Inhotim.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Address: Inhotim, Brumadinho, Minas Gerais.
Website: Inhotim. It’s got an English version.
Opening times: Thursdays and Fridays, from 9h30 till 16h30. Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 9h30 to 17h30.
Admission: R$15.
How to get to Inhotim: if you have your own means of transportation, follow the map provided at the Institute’s website. Saturdays and Sundays there is a bus running from Belo Horizonte bus station (platform F2) to Inhotim. Departs from Belo Horizonte at 9am and returns from Inhotim at 4pm.
Facilities: there are snack shops and two restaurants.
Piece of advice: as most of the visit to Inhotim is done outdoors, it is best avoided on a rainy day.
Photo album: my Inhotim photos at Flicrk.
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The recently inaugurated Museu do Futebol (football/soccer museum) in São Paulo will soon become an unmissable visit for footie fans worldwide.

Whether you are soccer-crazy or not, the museum is worth a visit. It was designed by the same team responsible for the state-of-the-art Museu da Língua Portuguesa. The museum is located under the stands of the Pacaembu Stadium in são Paulo. The endless collection of posters that decorate the entrance hall to the museum are an excellent introduction to the nostalgic trip in football history you will be about to embark on.

At the museum the emphasis is very much on technology and interactivity as a means of telling the history of Brazilian soccer and society. Be warned, do no expect many references to world soccer, the museum is mainly about Brazil. A forgiveable sin, given Brazil’s contribution to the history of the sport.

There is a section of the museum devoted to photos from times gone by, you could spend there ages contemplating the amazing collection of snapshots from the first decades of football history.

From that room, a futuristic leap to the space dedicated to the World Cups. XXI century totems remember all the world cups and the world events that happened during the time.

The second half of the museum deals with the rules of the sport. On the way, a door allows you to contemplate the Pacaembu stadium, where the museum is located, from the inside.

The museum has quite a few of interactive surprises I will not reveal now. Make sure you have proper footwear on if you want to make the most of the penalty shoot simulator.

Address: Estádio do Pacaembu (Praça Charles Miller). It’s 1 km from the Clínicas metro station (line 2 – green), though the way down to the stadium is not straightforward. Easiest thing is to take a taxi to the stadium from the metro station, the short ride shouldn’t cost more than R$10.

Price: Entrance is R$6 (students with proper ID and senior citizens pay $3). Free entrance on Thursdays.

Opening times: From Tuedsay to Sunday, from 10 to 17 hours. Closed when there is a game at the stadium.

Website: Museu do Futebol

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The Sistema Brasileiro de Museus is a government’s website that contains information on all Brazilian museums.

As usual, and this is a sad reality of tourism in Brazil, the page is in Portuguese only, and the interface is all but user-friendly.

To get specific information on museums, do the following:

1. choose Cadastro Nacional de Museus on the left sidebar
2. on the menu that will appear on the middle of the page, choose Conheça os Museus Brasileiros
3. you will end up on a search engine where you can find information on a specific museum, if you know its name, or a listing of all the museums either in an specific state or in the whole of Brazil. To see the list of all the museums insert $ on the Entre com as palavras box.

Lo más interesante de la página es que en los resultados os aparece información detallada sobre los museos (incluyendo los horarios de funcionamiento) además de la página web de los mismos si la tuvieran.

The results page contains detailed information on the museums, including their opening times, admission cost, and webpage when there is one.

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