the UFMG Botanic Gardens
The Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden holds an important treasure of folk art – the Nativity of Pipiripau. Created during the 20th century, the craftsman Raimundo Machado, synchronizes 586 figures, distributed in 45 scenes, which tell the story of life and death of Jesus, mixed with its variety of arts and crafts.
With 600,000 sq. m. of green area, the UFMG Museum of Natural History and Botanic Garden (MHN-JB) is a privileged ecological space that enables visitors to experience nature in a rich, multidisciplinary way. For 30 years, the mission of the MHN-JB has been to do research, to educate, and to meet the community’s demand for service. It covers the areas of Anthropology, Archeology, Environmental Education, Natural History, Mineralogy, and Paleontology. It has an Ecological Amphitheater, a Free Art Atelier, a Greenhouse, and an Interactive Room. One of its traditional exhibitions is the Pipiripau Nativity Crèche.
Palácio das Artes
Palácio das Artes, inaugurated in 1970, is the largest and most varied cultural complex in Minas Gerais. It comprises three theaters, three art galleries, a movie theater, a bookstore a coffee shop and photography exhibition space. It offers high quality programs for the several expressions in arts. The building was projected by Oscar Niemeyer and it also houses the Minas Gerais Handcraft Center.
Pampulha Art Museum (MAP)
The Pampulha Art Museum is located at the Pampulha Lagoon in Belo Horizonte in a building that originally housed the Pampulha Casino. The building was projected by Oscar Niemeyer, commissioned by the then mayor and future president of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek in the early 1940s, with external grounds by landscaper Roberto Burle Marx.
The building was the first project of Oscar Niemeyer. It was an old casino, closed in 1946. In 1957, opened with the Art Museum. His design was influenced by the principles
