Work by a Paraguayan in the Malba collection

The work Samu'u 360 Degrees by the Paraguayan visual artist Marcos Benítez is part of the collection of the prestigious Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba), through the Mendonca Collection. The piece is now part of the collection that includes works by great Latin American artists such as Frida Kahlo, Roberto Matta, Diego Rivera and Joaquín Torres-García.

Benítez participated in the 2022 exhibition Aó Textile Episodes of the Visual Arts in Paraguay carried out by Malba, curated by Lía Colombino, director of the Museum of Indigenous Art of the Center for Visual Arts/Museo del Barro. Currently, his work Samu'u 360 Degrees from the AO series becomes part of the collection of one of the most visited museums in Argentina and the most prestigious in Latin America.

The piece consists of an assembly of natural cotton fabric worked with earth and natural pigments to capture the texture of the bark of the samu'u, also known as drunk stick. Composed of four panels one meter wide, the work forms a circle three meters high.

“For me it is very important that my work is part of a collection as prestigious as that of Malba, since it will now be accessible to a large and diverse audience,” commented Marcos Benítez.

Likewise, the artist mentioned that the work entered through the donation of the Mendonca Collection, after a selection process to become part of the Museum's permanent collection.

The piece passed through the Works Admission and Acquisition Commission, the Curatorial Team and the people in charge of Conservation of the Museum's Works. “It gives me great satisfaction to have gone through all those instances, especially considering that they are very prepared people,” concluded the artist who has been researching topics related to the environment, vegetation and herbs since the 90s.