Museo La Tertulia
Cali's modern art museum beside the Río Cali, with a cinematheque and open-air theatre.
The museum began in 1956 as a discussion group, or tertulia, gathered by Maritza Uribe de Urdinola, and grew into the leading modern art institution in south-western Colombia. From 1957 it ran the Bienal Americana de Artes Gráficas, which brought printmaking from across the continent to Cali and built the core of a collection now numbering several thousand works, strongest in Colombian and Latin American prints, drawing, painting and photography from the mid-twentieth century onwards.
Its home stands on the bank of the Río Cali in the western district of the city. Designed by the local practice Lago y Sáenz and opened in 1962, the complex is a set of low modern blocks approached through a long colonnade, with sculpture terraces stepping down towards the river. Besides the exhibition buildings it contains the Sala Maritza Uribe de Urdinola, an auditorium used as a cinematheque with a regular film programme, an open-air theatre and rooms for workshops and courses.
Highlights
- Collection built around the Bienal Americana de Artes Gráficas
- Modern riverside complex of 1962 by Lago y Sáenz
- Cinematheque with a regular repertory film programme
- Sculpture terraces and an open-air theatre by the Río Cali
