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General Information about the Provincial Museum of Pinar del Rio
The Provincial Museum of Pinar del Rio is in a building of eclectic style that shows the Moorish influence and the evolution of domestic architecture in the Pinar del Rio Province.
The County Council was settled in it since 1892 and once the Republic was instituted it became seat of government and cultural institutions.
The property was eventually destined to host the provincial museum, which was inaugurated on December 14th, 1979 and has six showrooms.
The Pinar del Rio Provincial Museum and its History and Archaeology Rooms
The archeology room of displays objects that testify to the presence in Pinar del Rio of the first Cuban inhabitants: the Aborigines.
The Stone and Shell Culture are displayed as well as a ceremonial pestle, secondary burial and shell earrings and fish vertebrae used for body adornment.
On the other hand, the living history of the Pinar del Rio Provincial Museum shows the social economic and political evolution from the colony period until the 1940s.
The presence of Europeans in this territory, mainly Spanish and French, and the most important economic items such as tobacco, sugar and coffee are present.
Visitors can also appreciate lasts sugar thumb – only complete sets of the Nineteenth Century in the territory – mold tables to make cigars, different types of tobacco, cigar guillotines, a coffee mill, tile of old French coffee plantations, Yucatan and Creoles metate, among others.
Objects that denounce the slavery system in the area, like abusive shackles, are included in the exposition.
There are also dungeon machetes, clay pots, combs and other Cimarron related parts, which was very abundant in the hillocks of Pinar del Rio.
The participation of Pinar del Rio in the 1895 War is present with a collection of weapons used by both armies.
Among the collections belonging to the 1930 and 1940 there are objects related to the founding of the Communist Party in the territory, the Pinar del Rio participation in the Spanish Civil War, the linking of Antonio Guiteras and Joven Cuba revolutionaries and the repression and punishment used by the police and rural guards.
Other Rooms of the Pinar del Rio Provincial Museum
The Pinar del Rio Provincial Museum also offers other facilities of interest to the public who visit it.
The first is the Set Room, which recreates a living room and dining room representative of the lifestyle of the middle class in Pinar del Rio during the decades 1940-50 and where Spanish Renaissance Style predominated.
In Pinar del Rio the furniture of the dining room and living room was used only for their utilitarian value, as the purchasing power of the gentry in the province did not allow to change to a sumptuous furniture styles.
Thus the most used were Spanish and Italian Renaissance and the same were made of precious wood, straw and leather.
China dishes, glass and oil paintings complete the set. The other room exposes the Decorative Arts. It displays pieces of great artistic value, including a large collection of crystals of different types and colors, objects of porcelain, biscuit, a beautiful collection of wall plates, trays decorated with wings of butterflies and moths and oil paintings by Cuban authors of the early Twentieth Century, including the last painting by Cuban painter Domingo Ramos, known as the “Painter of Viñales Valley”.
It is very striking to the visitor, for his work in marquetry the table gave away by the Marquis of Pinar del Rio.
A living room set belonging to Louis XV style and French Empire style dining set are also shown. Meanwhile the transitory room displays various themes that promote movable heritage of the province.
By this room numerous samples from universal to the local art had passed, which allows visitors to interact with the most authentic culture.
And finally we found the Hall of Pinar del Rio Creators. This space exhibits pieces from prominent musicians of the territory.
Author of the world famous song “Nosotros” (We) – piano and a set of wicker furniture from the house of the composer Pedro Junco Redondas are displayed as well as a violin and other personal belongings of the creator of Cha Cha Cha genre, Enrique Jorrin as well as the clothes worn by the greatest musician Miguelito Cuni, among other belongings.
Antonio Guiteras,Decorative Arts,Cha Cha Chá,County Council,Domingo Ramos,Enrique Jorrin,Luis XV Style,Spanish Civil War,1895 War,French Empire,Marquis of Pinar del Rio,Miguelito Cuni,Comunist Part,Pedro Junco Redondas,Spanish Renaissance Style,Set Room,Archaeology Room,History Room,Hall of Pinar del Rio Creators
