Museum dedicated to the Spanish language opens in Buenos Aires

The first museum dedicated to chronicling the development of the Spanish language in Latin America opened its doors in Buenos Aires at the end of September.

‘El Museo del libro y la lengua’ is the product of a collaboration between the Argentinean National Library and the Ministry of Culture to promote Spanish culture and language. One of the main aims of the museum is to allow the public to discover more about the history of Spanish and Hispanic literature, and how they have come to shape Argentina’s cultural identity. The project has mapped the evolution of not only Spanish in Argentina, but also the development of regional dialects and indigenous languages.

The colorful new museum which is situated on the same site as Argentina’s National Library was designed by the architect Clorindo Testa, and was inspired by the ‘Museum of the Portuguese Language’, which opened in March 2006 in Sao Paolo. There was an opening ceremony on the 29th September at which President Cristina Kirchner praised the cultural importance of the project.

The key idea is to provoke reflection on the language of Argentina, its continuities and metamorphosis, its evolution, influence and its impact on national customs. It will also celebrate some of Argentina’s most prestigious authors from Jorge Luis Borges to José Hernández.

The ground floor of the museum will be dedicated to both ‘The territory of language’ and will look at the historical processes that changed Spanish. The first floor will house an extensive collection of influential Argentinean literature from children’s books to those of science and discovery. The museum also has an auditorium and conference room aiming to encourage relationships with educational institutions, and develop new teaching strategies focused on Argentinean culture. It is also set to be a linguistic research centre, connected to the network of universities throughout the entire country.