Oro y Plata in Santiago, Chile

Today is a visit to Santiago’s historic Centro, inspired by the historic building photography exhibition at Parque Bicentennial. At La Moneda, the former presidential palace, there is an underground exhibition space, which is running an exhibition called Oro y Plata (Gold and Silver). The entrance fee is 1000 pesos, or about $2. In the middle of the day, the only people in the exhibition are me and a group of school kids, with a teacher loudly explaining the exhibits. This is an amazing exhibition, one that the National Gallery in Victoria would be charging $30+ to enter. The pieces are on loan and sourced from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Costa Rica. There are the required religious chalices, cups and papal crowns. The real eye-catchers though are the silver stirrups, spurs, riding tack and saddles that your average 19^th Century Englishman/woman would have killed for. Especially striking were the silver stirrups in the shape of a young woman’s sandals, complete with engraved initials. Massive pins (around 50 – 75cm long) were used to fasten Mapuche blankets, and in gold and silver resemble a monarch’s septre, with an orb on the top. These pins are in solid gold, and have a round orb on the top, and the obligatory cross as an attachment to the orb. Similarly, who knew that you needed a 50cm long solid gold lime pick – what do you do with a lime pick anyway?  Photography was not allowed in the exhibition, so I had to make do with a shot of the interior of the exhibition space.

Today is also the opening of the annual rose festival in Parque Aracuo, so I wander in on my way back to the hotel to have a look. It is a mini-version of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, confined to roses. There are some small displays of outdoor living areas, and the usual lotions and potions. Not sure what the story is with the bridal arch and umbrellas is though.