Inhotim#Botanical Garden

In the 1980s, Paz began buying tracts of land surrounding his modest farmhouse as developers threatened to destroy the natural landscape.Charmaine Picard (August 26, 2009), [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Major-new-commissions-at-Brazilian-art-centre/18691 Major new commissions at Brazilian art centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419015018/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Major-new-commissions-at-Brazilian-art-centre/18691 |date=2014-04-19 }} The Art Newspaper. The farm had been named by locals after a former owner, an English engineer known as Senhor Tim — Nhô Tim (pronounced {{IPA|pt|ĩ.ŋõ.tʃˈĩ|}}){{Cite web |last=Romero |first=Simon |date=March 10, 2012 |title=A Keeper of a Vast Garden of Art in the Hills of Brazil |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/world/americas/bernardo-pazs-inhotim-is-vast-garden-of-art.html |access-date=December 14, 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A7}} in the Mineiro dialect of Minas Gerais.Tony Perrottet (August 20, 2013), [https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324354704578638281663481150 Mining Magnate Bernardo Paz's Dedication to Inhotim] Wall Street Journal.

Image:Brumadinho Mg Brasil - Inhotim - panoramio.jpg]]

Paz soon converted the then 3,000-acre ranch into a sprawling, 5,000-acreVincent Bevins (August 28, 2013), [http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-ff-c1-brazil-art-forest-20130828-dto,0,5661416.htmlstory Brazilian sees museum as 'the Disney of the future'] Los Angeles Times. botanical garden designed by his friend, the late landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx. The project began when Brazilian contemporary artist Tunga persuaded Paz to start collecting contemporary art. Eventually, he allowed artists all the space and resources they needed to create larger-than-life works. The garden, which boasts two dozen art "pavilions", opened to the public in 2006.

Paz soon became known as the "Emperor of Inhotim." In order to make Inhotim self-sustaining, Paz announced in 2012 plans to build no fewer than 10 new hotels here for visitors, an amphitheater for 15,000 people, and "lofts" for those who want to live amid the collection.

In 2017, Paz was convicted by a Brazilian federal court of money laundering and sentenced to nine years in prison; allegedly, between 2007 and 2008 Paz received more than $98 million related to fund-raising for Inhotim, some of which was diverted to other companies.{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/arts/design/bernardo-paz-inhotim-prison-brazil.html | title=Creator of Brazil's Outdoor Museum Inhotim Sentenced to Prison | newspaper=The New York Times | date=17 November 2017 | last1=Londoño | first1=Ernesto }} He was acquitted in 2020, after which he gradually minimised his involvement with the institution.Gabriella Angeleti (24 November 2023), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/11/24/on-site-hotel-nearing-completion-at-brazils-inhotim-museum-and-botanical-garden On-site hotel nearing completion at Brazil’s Inhotim museum and botanical garden] The Art Newspaper.

Shortly before his resignation as chairman of Inhotim's board in 2018, the Minas Gerais government signed an agreement with Paz in which 20 works from its collection would be transferred to government ownership to cover his debts. However, the agreement states that none of the works can be sold or removed from the institution and that Inhotim retains its stewardship of the works.Gabriella Angeleti (24 August 2018), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2018/08/24/after-the-loss-of-its-convicted-founder-the-inhotim-institute-carries-on After the loss of its convicted founder, the Inhotim Institute carries on] The Art Newspaper.

Between 2021 and 2022, Paz — who previously funded 70% of Inhotim's operational budget — donated Inhotim's grounds, galleries, pavilions and 330 artworks to the institution. Paz also transferred stewardship of Inhotim to a team of well-known figures in the Brazilian and international art worlds, including Lucas Pessôa, Paula Azevedo and Julieta González. Also Inhotim, established a 30-member board of trustees, who are involved in the acquisition of new artworks and the development of new pavilions on the site.

In 2023, Inhotim closed an $80 million, ten-year sponsorship agreement with private mining company Vale.

The pavilions include more than 500 works by noted Brazilian and international artists, such as Hélio Oiticica, Yayoi Kusama, Rivane Neuenschwander,{{Cite web |title=Rivane Neuenschwander |url=https://www.inhotim.org.br/en/item-do-acervo/rivane-neuenschwander-2/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Inhotim |language=en-US}} Anish Kapoor, Thomas Hirschhorn, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Steve McQueen,[http://www.inhotim.org.br/en/inhotim/arte-contemporanea/obras/once-upon-a-time/ Steve McQueen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413105104/http://www.inhotim.org.br/en/inhotim/arte-contemporanea/obras/once-upon-a-time/ |date=2019-04-13 }} inhotim.org.br Cildo Meireles and Vik Muniz. One pavilion is devoted to one of Paz's ex-wives, the Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão.

• In 2008, a geodesic dome designed by Paula Zasnicoff Cardoso of the Brazilian architectural practice Arquitetos Associados was constructed within a eucalyptus forest and now contains Matthew Barney's installation De Lama Lâmina [From Mud, a Blade] (2004–08), which shows a vehicle uprooting a tree.Cristina Ruiz (November 22, 2010), [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Where-dreams-come-true/21858 Where dreams come true] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419015917/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Where-dreams-come-true/21858 |date=2014-04-19 }} The Art Newspaper.
• Chris Burden's Beam Drop (1984–2008) is made of 72 steel beams dropped 45 meters from 150-foot-high cranes into a pit filled with wet cement.
• Originally commissioned by the Public Art Fund for Madison Square Park and resold to Inhotim by Marian Goodman, Dan Graham's Bisected triangle, Interior curve (2002) is a two-room, walk-in pavilion made from different kinds of tinted glass, transparent and reflective.Holland Cotter (9 August 2002), [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/09/arts/art-review-rain-or-shine-residing-outdoors.html Rain or Shine, Residing Outdoors] New York Times.
• Sonic Pavilion by Doug Aitken was realized in 2009 and consists of a circular building of frosted glass on top of a hill which contains a well. This goes down 200 meters into the ground and at its bottom microphones capture the sounds of the earth, which are then amplified and played live in the gallery above.
• Vegetation Room (2012) by Cristina Iglesias is a cube of polished stainless steel reflecting the surrounding forest. Visitors slip into crevices where the walls are sculpted foliage, entering a labyrinth within the labyrinth; at the cube's heart, torrents of water periodically rush.
• Originally scheduled to open in 2020, Inhotim unveiled a pavilion in 2023 honouring Yayoi Kusama and featuring Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009), one of the artist's popular Infinity Rooms.Benjamin Sutton (26 July 2023), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/07/26/yayoi-kusama-gallery-opens-inhotim-institute-brazil Brazil’s Inhotim Institute opens dedicated Yayoi Kusama gallery] The Art Newspaper. Designed by the architects Fernando Maculan and Maria Paz, it spans more than 15,000 sq. ft and features a lushly planted garden at its main entrance.

In 2011, Inhotim joined the Brazilian government's official botanical garden association, and the staff has begun an inventory of its 5,000 plant species, including 1,300 types of palm alone.{{cite news |last1=Perrottet |first1=Tony |title=Mining Magnate Bernardo Paz's Dedication to Inhotim |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324354704578638281663481150 |work=Wall Street Journal. |date=August 20, 2013}} This represents more than 28% of botanical families known to man, and helped the institution receive the title of Private Reserve of Natural Patrimony of Inhotim (RPPN).{{cite web |title=Jardim Botânico |url=http://www.inhotim.org.br/inhotim/jardim-botanico/jardim-botanico |website=Inhotim |language=pt-br |access-date=2018-12-10 |archive-date=2019-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711233337/https://inhotim.org.br/inhotim/jardim-botanico/jardim-botanico/ |url-status=dead }}

Inhotim Institute is the only place in Latin America that has the Carrion flower, a species native to Asia and famous for being the biggest flower in the world. It is also known for the strong odor it releases when blooming, which has given it the alternative name of "corpse flower". In Inhotim, it bloomed for the first time on December 15, 2010, and again on December 27, 2012.{{cite news |last1=Paes |first1=Cíntia |title='Flor-cadáver' floresce pela 1ª vez na América Latina em MG, diz botânico |url=http://g1.globo.com/minas-gerais/noticia/2010/12/flor-cadaver-floresce-pela-1-vez-na-america-latina-em-minas-gerais.html |work=Minas Gerais |date=19 December 2010 |language=pt-br}}{{cite news |last1=MG |title=Flor-cadáver atinge auge da floração em Inhotim |url=http://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2012/12/flor-cadaver-atinge-auge-da-floracao-em-inhotim.html |work=Jornal Nacional |date=27 December 2012 |language=pt-br}} The flower is located in the "Viveiro Educador", in the Equatorial Greenhouse, and is open for visitation by the public.

In 2008, Inhotim's status was changed from a private museum to a public institute, with an annual budget and a board of directors. Although the plan is for the place eventually to be self-funding, at the moment it is largely financed by Paz. Inhotim costs about $10 million to run a year, with about 15% of this coming from ticket receipts.

Jochen Volz has been the artistic director since 2004. Paz has plans to expand Inhotim with ten or more new hotels, a 15,000-capacity amphitheater, and even a complex of "lofts" for those who want to live amid the collection.

Inhotim has experienced a significant rise in attendance since it opened to the public in 2006, with around 133,000 visitors in 2009, nearly 250,000 visitors in 2011 and 300,000 visitors in 2023. In August 2018, they reached the mark of 3 million visitors.{{cite web |title=3 Milhões De Visitantes |url=http://www.inhotim.org.br/blog/3-milhoes-de-visitantes/ |website=Inhotim |language=pt-br |access-date=2018-12-10 |archive-date=2019-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330143339/https://www.inhotim.org.br/blog/3-milhoes-de-visitantes/ |url-status=dead }}

File:Dan Graham Inhotim 01.jpg|Dan Graham

File:Instituto Cultural Inhotim Pavillion.jpg|Adriana Varejão

File:Inhotim Simon Starling 02.jpg|Simon Starling

File:Inhotim Oiticica 04.jpg|Hélio Oiticica

File:Inhotim Amorphophallus titanum 2012.jpg|Carrion Flower in Inhotim

File:Inhotim yayoi kusama 05.jpg|Yayoi Kusama

File:Edgard de Souza - Dor de Cabeça (Inhotim).jpg|Edgard de Souza

File:Inhotim 2 (25886488760).jpg|Botanical Garden

File:Inhotim 17 (26379724116).jpg|Art installation in Inhotim

File:Inhotim (25554576194).jpg|Landscape

File:Inhotim 13 (26074023460).jpg|Matthew Barney

File:Inhotim 18 (26313318632).jpg|Adriana Varejão

• List of sculpture parks

{{reflist|3}}

• [http://www.inhotim.org.br Inhotim website]

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Category:Art museums and galleries in Brazil

Category:Botanical gardens in Brazil

Category:Museums in Minas Gerais

Category:Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in South America

Category:2006 establishments in Brazil

Category:Culture in Minas Gerais