Centro Cultural La Moneda

May 2016

During my trip to Santiago, I decided to go visit the Centro Cultural La Moneda. It was my first visit and I was lucky enough to stumble across their Ancient Egypt exhibition. When I was younger I was in love with ancient Egypt, the mythology and lifestyle being my favorite part of it all. It really was magical to be able to experience up close fragments of a world that fascinated me so much as a child. 

There was a little side exhibition of the PET Lamp project, that I thought to be quite interesting. 

The curator of this exhibition did an outstanding job. Not only was it incredibly informative, but it was also easy to navigate and visually stunning. 

Fragments of pottery 

These are makeup tools and trays!! 

This last exhibition I wasn't able to photograph, but it was beautiful. It was a collection of photojournalism of the past 50 years of my country. 

Take care,

~Rose

"Hongos" - Fungi Exhibition

I don't know why but recently I feel as though my town's recent exhibitions were just made for me. The exhibition "Hongos: Un Reino por Descubrir" (spanish for "Mushrooms a Kingdom to Discover") was no exception. It was mainly developed by the Fundacion Fungi, and the information and photography was provided by them. So now I shall show you the pictures!! 

(I will name the fungi from left to right)

Coprinus disseminatus, Geastrum floriforme, Bolbitius vitellinus

Cyathus olla, Cortinarius magellanicus

Sarcoscypha coccinea, Coriolus versicolor

Mycena cyanocephala

The details really made all the difference. It was beautifully set out, very dinamic and the information was easy to understand and very complete. 

They even had this adorable platform so one could take photos and feel like a small pixie. My partner was the one who invited me to the exhibition and was more than happy to take pictures of me.

He even laid on the floor in order to take this angled shot!! And as you can see in both photos I was trying not to burst with excitement and skip around with glee.

Take care,
-Rose

AnatoARTE - Exhibition

(Content warning: Description/picture of medical procedures, bones, animal parts & fetus)

Okay, so once again I'm quite late on posting these. This was an exhibition I went to late November of 2015. It was an exhibition called AnatoARTE, and it was basically about anatomy and the different ways one can preserve specimen for studies. So there was everything from taxidermy to plastination. I have to admit that at the time I was really busy with finals and everything, but my partner eventually coaxed me into going, and I'm so glad that I did. It was wonderful, and I actually learned a lot. 

These were preserved using what is know as "Osteotecnia". I wasn't able to find a translation, but it basically makes up what is usually done by any bone collector. The specimen goes under a boiling bath to remove any remaining tissue (except the bone of course). Later on the bone is bleached, usually done with peroxide, to not only whiten but also disinfect. And lastly an acrylic spray is applied to conserve it. 

Skull of a cappuccino monkey (Cebus capucinus)

Domestic cat skull (Felis catus) next to one of a puma (Puma concolor)

Cow cranium (Bos taurus) with diprosopus

This jaw belonged to a cow that had a bone tumor 

The skull on the right is of a southern Pudu (Pudu puda) which are the world's smallest deer. 

This one is really interesting; it consists in the art of injecting polymers into the veins and arteries to acquire an anatomical model of the circulatory system. Later on the original tissue is corroded leaving only the model behind. What you see above is a pudu heart (Pudu puda).

And then there is taxidermy, and I'm sad to say that I've seen better. The one above it a pudu, although it doesn't even come close to what one of these cute creatures look like (alive).

Once again I could find the translation for this one. This is the method of "diafanizacion", which is used to study bones and fetus growth throughout different stages. You use alizarin to stain the bones and later conserve the specimen in jars with glicerin. Above you can see the tiny bones of a human fetus and a full grown frog.

This probably was, by far, my favorite part of the exhibition. These are all specimen preserved using the method of Plastination. It's one of the most modern techniques that is used in anatomical study and one obtains a more realist anatomical specimen. This is achieved by substituting the liquids within an organ with silicone.

Cow heart (Bos taurus)

Spiny Dogfish Shark (Squalus acanthias)

Equine hindleg (Equus caballus)

Thomson's Gazelle newborn still wrapped in it's placenta (Eudorcas thomsonii)

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Blessed be,
~Rose