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This is not a casino
Abstract
This paper approaches questions related to the Pampulha Art Museum (MAP), located in Belo Horizonte, MG, and the projects conceived to restore it as it completes its 60th year since its founding (1957) and as its main building gains further visibility as a result of its insertion into the Pampulha Modern Ensemble, recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2016. Three critical readings are thus proposed: a reading of the documents for its application and insertion into the Pampulha Modern Ensemble; of the restoration project for MAP (which, in a way, underestimates the building’s already consolidated use as a museum) and a critical reading of the museum building itself in its present reality. As these readings overlap, they highlight how the problems related to the recognition of the building as a casino and not as museum affect its preservation. For the MAP’s proper restoration and preservation as a modern heritage and cultural institution, interdisciplinary solutions coherent to its reality should be sought (and not only building solutions restricted to the field of architecture), employing contemporary artistic production, its own collection, curatorial and museological strategies, graphical and exhibit design, considering it as a living organism and not merely a reified shell. In this sense, examples of this interaction between pre-existences and artistic production are discussed, collaborating for the preservation of a heritage site, and not the other way around. Key-words: Pampulha Art Museum, World Heritage, Restoration, Contemporary Art