Today, Saturday, June 27, and tomorrow, Sunday, June 28, the pillars at the entrance to Plaza Oriente and Central de GAM will be cleaned. Also the metal sheets that cover the thermopanels of the UC metro sector, showcases and the exterior sector of the Ticket Office.
Since October 18, 2019, the façade of GAM was transformed into an open blackboard where passers-by captured the history of the social outbreak on a daily basis. On February 19 of this year, it was intervened without authorization with red paint by unknown persons at night and the next day the urban demonstrations returned.
Starting today, GAM will accept the plan for cleaning heritage buildings promoted and financed by the Government and the Municipality of Santiago, which has already included the Municipal Theater of Santiago, the National Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, among others.
The GAM building is a loan from the Ministry of National Assets, and by agreement the due maintenance of the entire establishment is required, ensuring the correct conservation of an urban heritage property.
“Since the beginning of the social outbreak, we strongly supported the expressions of street art in a historical moment that was revealed on our walls, but we must fulfill our duty with National Assets to protect the heritage,” comments the executive director, Felipe Mella. And he adds: "To respect the need for social expression and to take care of the historic building and if the need also arises to clean the Corten steel as well, we are committed to evaluating the best programmatic instance that highlights these works that were the subject of study at the University of Chile through the specialty of archeology. We will aim for maximum respect for these manifestations through an exhibition, digital or physical, that highlights art in ground zero. On the other hand, we will work with Esteban Barrera from Galería Lira and several artists urban and muralists”.
GAM has already rescued some works that were exhibited on the walls, such as Gabriela Mistral by FabCiarolo and The Sacred Tree of Chile by Helia Witker when groups of unknown people vandalized the walls without authorization from the administration of the cultural center.