Salvadors Top Contemporary Art Galleries And Museums

Salvador is a vibrant port town and the capital of the state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil. The beautiful promenade of Salvador with its capoeira dancers and street musicians gives a perfect example of the colourful and cheerful disposition of the Brazilian people and their immense artistic achievement. These qualities are evident in the city’s flourishing art scene. Here is a selection of some of the most interesting contemporary art galleries and museums to be discovered while walking the sunny streets of Salvador da Bahia.

1. RV Cultura e Arte

Art Gallery

When it first opened in 2008, RV Cultura e Arte was a one-of-a-kind experiment on the artistic landscape of Salvador de Bahia. RV Cultura e Arte has a dual nature, as it is both an exhibition space for contemporary arts and the city’s only bookstore specialized in graphic arts, comic books and manga. Some of the most interesting exhibitions that have taken place here were born from a fusion of these two facets of contemporary culture. On average, the gallery organizes four exhibitions per year but its calendar is full of events, lectures, and workshops. RV Cultura e Arte has also recently opened its own publishing house that promotes comic books and graphic novels.

2. Luiz Fernando Landeiro Contemporary Art

Art Gallery

Luiz Fernando Landeiro Contemporary Art is the youngest and trendiest art gallery in Salvador de Bahia. The gallery can be found within a newly renovated building overlooking the gorgeous Praia da Paciência. The renovation of the building was carried out by Dolores Landeiro who was able to turn a dismissed site into a stunning exhibition space with 400 square meters of space spread over three floors, each with a beautiful view of the ocean. During the opening, owner Luiz Fernando Landeiro showcased various examples of the art that will set his gallery aside from the others, among which were installations, sculptures, paintings, photography, video art and performances.

3. Bahia MAM

Museum, Park

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If there were a contest for the most picturesque view of the city The Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia would surely win the first prize. Surrounded by towering mango trees and washed by the waves of the sea, the MAM-BA is the most important museum of contemporary art of the state of Bahia and one of the leading museums in South America. The five galleries exhibit the best local and international visual artists while the Sculpture Park, the museum’s outdoor gallery, offers a pleasant alternative to the traditional museum experience. MAM-BA’s calendar is full of activities ranging from exhibitions to cultural events and even educational activities.

Bel Borba

The streets, buildings, public squares and even the beaches of Salvador de Bahia have been Bel Borba’s canvas for the past 30 years. Borba is one of Brazil’s most beloved street artists and has been described as the Latin American Banksy. For his artworks, Borba uses mainly discarded items such as metal, bottles, broken tiles and driftwood and proudly says that he’ll never run out of materials as long as he keeps living in Salvador. But it’s the relationship with the people of Salvador de Bahia that inspires most of Bel Borba’s works of street art; his activity has even inspired a documentary film titled Bel Borba Aqui: A Man and a City