The president of the National University of La Plata, Martín López Armengol, together with the Academic Vice President, Fernando Tauber, participated this morning in the presentation of the first stage of the project to redefine the Samay Huasi Museum, located on the property that belonged to the founder of the UNLP “Joaquín V. González”, in the city of Chilecito, La Rioja.
The officials were accompanied by the Secretary of Art and Culture, Mariel Ciafardo, the Deputy Secretary of Culture of the UNLP, María Elena Larregle and the director of the Museum Network, Alicia Loza.
The initiative brings together an interdisciplinary work team that includes the disciplinary fields of museology, anthropology, archaeology, art history, cultural management, design, library science and social communication.
The house retains its colonial origin and parts of it were adapted as accommodation for all teaching workers and Nodocentes of the UNLP.
Inside the estate you can enjoy the Regional Museum “My Mountains”, which includes the Antonio Alice art gallery that contains important works by nationally renowned painters, and the Natural Sciences, Mineralogy and Archeology Room. This exhibits minerals, animals, plants and aboriginal pieces.
Additionally, inside the house, two rooms were intended to reflect González’s life. In one of them, the bedroom of the creator of the Labor and Mining Code is recreated, with some personal objects. The second room is an iconographic room where various portraits and photographs of González are presented, along with various pieces written by the founder and first rector of the UNLP.
The Museum will be restored in its entirety, painting work will be carried out and the warehouses will also be conditioned.
For the design of the institutional identity of Samay Huasi, significant and identifying elements of Gonzalean iconography were taken into account: iconic natural and cultural resources of the farm and of Joaquín V. González.
The president highlighted the existence of “this important space for that region and congratulated all the disciplines that participated in the work, with the commitment of all the participants.”
“Samay Huasi is not only a place of rest, it is a very symbolic space for all of us, because it houses the history of the emblematic figure of Joaquín V González,” said the head of the UNLP. And he added: “His work, magnificent in every sense, left indelible legacies and footprints, his fervent defense of public education, the scientific outlook that he brought to our university from its genesis to distinguish it from the others and mark his mark.” .
For his part, Vice President Tauber highlighted “the important work we have been carrying out for years to highlight the jewels of the architectural and cultural heritage of our University. The Samay Huasi Museum is precisely part of that rich heritage that makes us proud, and therefore it is fundamental and necessary to launch its enhancement and redefinition.”
Among the general objectives of the Museum’s enhancement project are:
Enhance the cultural areas of the Samay Huasi Estate.
Define through a governance system the different identity components of the Samay Huasi Museum: vision, mission, organizational and structural values, objectives and methodological strategies.
Propose a comprehensive museological and museographic renovation plan for the various exhibition rooms that make up the Samay Huasi Museum.
Promote extension policies based on the use of different cultural areas from their exhibition potential (cultural events) and congregational potential (conferences, conferences, symposia, etc.).
Develop a communication policy in view of the implementation of social networks and the interactivity derived from the convergence between the Internet era and the digital era.
Provide a feasible space for the development of heterogeneous tourist circuits that link Chilecito and Samay Huasi.
Promote a marketing area for the commercialization of goods related to the Museum and the Samay Huasi Estate.
