Buenos Aires’ Hippest Hostel: Art Factory

Art Factory hostel is a cool option for a stay in Buenos Aires, not just for the graffiti throughout each location, but the relaxed, friendly vibe.

Since opening their original location in Palermo a decade ago, Art Factory has debuted three new locations, making this hostel more popular than Buenos Aires’ longtime favorite for single travelers, Milhouse Hostel.
A room with two beds and a chair at Art Factory Hostel in Buenos Aires
Each Art Factory location is housed in classic, restored building. Inside the style is comfortable and colorful with murals along the hallways and in each room. Aside from the usual amenities such as towels, sheets, and wifi, Art Factory features a bilingual staff, free coffee and tea all day, a breakfast that includes eggs and fruit, a library, ping pong tables (at the Palermo location), and free activities such as Spanish conversation classes.

Which Art Factory Hostel Location is Better?

A private double room at the Art Factory Hostel in Buenos Aires The original Palermo location is spacious and perfectly located to enjoy the many restaurants and clubs nestled around the hostel.

The more minimalist Act Factory Soho, in a large black corner building, is just five minutes from the Plaza Italia transit hub, making it a good location to get around the city. Light sleepers should note this is the noisiest location, but the private rooms are very nice.

The San Telmo Art Factory is for free spirits who want to stay in the south of the city and enjoy their large roof-deck close to downtown attractions such as the Plaza de Mayo, the San Telmo Fair and the walkable and modern Puerto Madero neighborhood.

Beer lovers will definitely want to stay at the newest location, the Art Factory Beer Garden, which claims to be the first hostel in Buenos Aires with its own (quite lovely) beer garden, twenty types of beer on tap and a live DJ spinning music. The outside of the Art Factory Hostel in San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Art Factory Hotel Original
Costa Rica 4353
Palermo

Art Factory Soho
Charcas 4500
Palermo Soho

Art Factory Beer Garden
Paraguay 4539
Plaza Italia, Palermo

Art Factory San Telmo
Piedras 545
San Telmo

La Noche de Los Museos: A City-Wide Art Walk

La Noche de Los Museos is a yearly Buenos Aires cultural extravaganza where it seems virtually every door in the city is swung open, inviting visitors to wander through to take in some art and culture.

Every year, tens of thousands take to the streets to visit museums, galleries and even government and private historic buildings to see exhibitions, live music, theater, spoken word and dance performances throughout the city.

What to See on Museum Night

While some plan their evening in advance, carefully selecting which events and museums they will visit, it is also enjoyable to have a whimsical night following the crowds to see what one finds.

Buenos Aires La Boca waterfront during La Noche de Los Museos — The La Boca waterfront during La Noche de Los Museos

A good starting point for those downtown is the stunning Casa de Cultura at Avenida de Mayo near Peru Street.

From there one can walk to the to the City Legislature, the Cabildo and the World Tango Museum, and the crazy-looking Bank of London/Banco Hipotecario building by Clorinda Testa at Reconquista 101. The Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes is also worth checking out early in the evening. All those centrally-located buildings and more have special events on Museum Night.

Down by the water in La Boca, visitors can visit Fundación Proa, see an exhibition put on by the city’s Fine Art Museum on El Caminito, visit the El Rincón de Lucia Tenement Museum and enjoy live entertainment on the waterfront and at the Teatro de La Ribera, among other offerings.

In Recoleta, the Centro Cultural Recoleta will be ground zero, with various events and exhibitions. Nearby, doors will be open at the Palais de Glace, the Architecture Museum and the University of Buenos Aires Law Department Archive.

When Museum Night began in 1995, the neighborhood of Puerto Madero was barely on the map. Today the neighborhood offers enough art and culture that one could spend the whole evening there. One gallery that starving artists won’t want to miss is the Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat. The entrance fee to view the private collection is normally one of the most expensive in the city. From there, museum goers can walk over to the old Munich Brewery, now the Humor Museum, or the Frigate President Sarmiento Museum and the Corbeta Uruguay Museum.

Free Bus Pass

For those who want to get around to various sites across the city, the major bus lines will allow museum goers to ride free as long as you have a copy of the La Noche de Los Museos bus pass. Even better, you can make it a two-wheeled adventure, using the free bikes available through the EcoBici program.

While some of the city’s largest and most popular museums such as MALBA, El Museo de Bella Artes and the Natural Science Museum participate, they typically attract big crowds and might be better left until after midnight or another day.

With over 240 museums and cultural spaces participating in every neighborhood of the city, it’s impossible to see it all. To search for specific events or to do a search by neighborhood, see the guide linked below.

The evening begins at 8 p.m. and ends at a rather tame 3 a.m. for nocturnal Buenos Aires.

La Noche de Los Museos Guide
Nov 4, 2017
Time 8 p.m. — 3 a.m.
-Across Buenos Aires

ArteBA: Buenos Aires’ Annual Contemporary Art Fair

ArteBa is one of Latin America’s largest contemporary art fairs. Taking place over the course of three days, the annual Buenos Aires’ event attracts over 120,000 art junkies from across the planet and provides visitors the chance to hobnob with the Argentine elite, artists and celebrities.

Sponsored by The ArteBA Foundation and brought together with the help of a multitude of corporate sponsors and the Buenos Aires Culture Department, ArteBA provides visibility for established local artists and a platform for emerging artist to get their work noticed on the international level. The fair also aids in the acquisition of new works for some of Argentina’s top museums including MALBA.

The art fair takes place at the Palermo exhibition center, La Rural.

An artwork by Pablo Zel as seen at ArteBA 2012 — A piece by Pablo Zel in ArteBA 2012

Highlights for visitors include the ‘Barrio Joven’ section, designed to foster new talent in the Latin American art world and the U-TURN Project Rooms, a special exhibition area that brings together a variety of international galleries in an effort to put world class international art before the Latin American public.

Entrance to the art fair, can be purchased online or at the ticket window at La Rural.

Before making an important art purchase, visitors may want to read up on the legal steps necessary to export art from Argentina.

ArteBA 2018
May 24-27
La Rural
Avenida Sarmiento 2704
-Blue and green pavilions
Palermo
Tel: 4816-8704

• Hours: 2:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.
• General Admission: $160
-2 day access: $250, 3 day access: $320
• Seniors and Students: $80
• Kids under 12 free

Transportation

Bus
Lines by Santa Fe Avenue: 12 – 15 – 21 – 29 – 36 – 39 – 41 – 55 – 57 – 59 – 60 – 64 – 67 – 68 – 93 – 95 – 111 – 118 – 160 – 161 – 188 – 194
Lines by Sarmiento Avenue: 37 – 67
Lines by Oro Street: 34 – 160
Subway
Palermo Station
Plaza Italia Station
Train
San Martín Line: Palermo Station
Mitre Line: Minister Carranza Station, 3 de Febrero Station

Don’t forget to book your hotel in Palermo in advance for ArteBA

Ciudad Emergente 2011

The Buenos Aires winter festival Ciudad Emergente’s 4th edition will take place this Thursday, June 17th through Monday the 20th.

This year the annual celebration of underground culture has a Parisian flavor with invited artists from the European city that has long-inspired Buenos Aires.

The festival is set in the expansive Recoleta Cultural Center, one of Buenos Aires’ oldest buildings, dating to 1723.

Mucha Música

Over fifty bands will perform live on three different stages, ‘La Terraza,’ ‘Sala Villa Villa’ and ‘La Capilla.’

Among the international acts are Spain’s Love of Lesbian, France’s Mademoiselle K and Mustang, and The Ganjas from Chile.

Argentine national acts will include the edgy female rock outfit, Liers; dub diva, Alika; garage punkers, Los Peyotes; psycho-folk rock group, Fantasmagoria; and the eclectic ensemble, Anetol Delmonte.

Miss Bolivia, aka Paz Ferreyra, a musician, psychologist and yoga instructor who brings a style that is a 100% Argentine will perform on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

Seven DJ and VJ combos will be performing in the ‘Sala Villa Villa’ space throughout the festival.

Literature, Rock-docs and Free Downloads

In the ‘Magazine Space’ passersby can peruse a diverse range of magazines such as humor rag, Barcelona and Los Inrockuptibles, the local version of the French culture magazine. Visitors can also listen to music from local indie labels and meet artists, agents and producers.

In the digital arts section, visitors can check out contemporary digital art and download free music onto CD’s or memory stick via software that allows unsigned artist to share their work.

The Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Film (BAFICI) will be presenting three rock-documentaries per day including Lemmy with David Grohl and Alice Cooper about the hard-rocking Motorhead guitarist, and Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany.

Among the street dancers performing in the Patio del Aljibe are Cirko Marisko, a performance group familiar to visitors of Plaza Francia and well as hip-hop/ reggaeton acrobatic dancers, Jam.

The festival’s organizers are very closed-lipped about the surprise musical guest. Last year it was popular national rock band, Los Divididos. And in 2009 the reggae group Dancing Mood made for a happy final event.

All signs are promising for a flavorful surprise on the festival’s final night this year.

Tune in to twitter, and if you aren’t there already, be ready to hustle to Recoleta on Monday once the cat is out of the bag.

Ciudad Emergente
Centro Cultural Recoleta
Junín 1930
Ave. Pueyrredón at Azcuénaga

Recoleta

• Hours: From 3 p.m until 9 p.m., June 16th to 20th

ArteBA — Buenos Aires’ Contemporary Art Extravaganza

Editor’s note: This post is out of date. Please see our newer post about Arte BA here.

ArtBa is a contemporary art extravaganza for art collectors and those who just wish they were. The event, billed as Latin America’s largest art fair, draws artists, curators, gallery owners and art junkies from across the globe. It also hosts high-profile international collectors, among them gallery owners and celebrities. This year, Hollywood front-man, John Cusack already dropped by to view the exhibits.

The ArteBA Foundation’s annual event grows every year, with over 120,000 people visiting Palermo’s La Rural to see work from 71 regional and international galleries.

In its 2011 edition, ArteBA celebrates its 20^th year. On show are the works of renowned artists such as Marta Minujín, Zulema Maza, Roberto Jacoby and Miguel Rothschild. International works include those of Peru’s Giancarlo Scaglia, Brazil’s Abraham Palatnik, Uruguay’s Antonio Berni and the U.S.A.’s Mark Barquet.

Once again this year, entrance includes a free audio guide mapped out by curator Alicia de Arteaga and read by local radio legend, Lalo Mir. Visitors can download the MP3 here to listen on their Ipod while viewing the show, or provide an I.D. to get a set of headphones at the fair. Note, the download is only available in Spanish.

For the eighth year a few lucky artists will be selected to receive the highly-anticipated AR$50,000 ArteBA-Petrobras Visual Arts Prize to sponsor the creation of new work for exhibit at ArteBA.

To see works of emerging regional artists, head to the Chandon Barrio Joven section, meant to foster new talent in the Latin American art world.

A debut section this year is the U-TURN Project Rooms, bringing together 11 worldwide galleries with 18 artists, in an exhibit meant to explore new trends in the world of international art.

The last four evenings of the fair there are ‘Living Room chats’ at 7:00 p.m. to explore the collection of Banco Cuidad. On Thursday and Saturday evening is ‘The origin and the current situation of Banco Ciudad in the Arts,’ a summary of their acquired works. On Friday and Sunday the talk presented is, ‘Norman Foster in Buenos Aires.’

LluisBarba-piece — Artwork: Lluis Barba /Photos courtesy of ArteBA

Brought together with the help of a multitude of corporate sponsors, ArteBA helps with the acquisition of new works for some of Argentine’s top museums including MALBA and the Museo Superior de Bellas Artes Evita in Córdoba.

As always, the city’s top notch Department of Culture will be participating as a sponsor. They will host the free Open Forum, with a contemporary art exhibition, art film projections and presentations. On the fair’s final day they will present local experimental film, an improvisational performance and live music by local dub band, Nairobi and a show called Guachocumbiero, by provincial folk musician, Martín Giménez.

Those purchasing works to take abroad will want to read this post about the legal steps necessary to export art from Argentina. Those who can’t afford any of the artwork on display at ArteBA but want a souvenir can purchase the ArteBA catalogue for AR$70 at the exhibit.

ArteBA 2011
May 19— 23
La Rural
Avenida Sarmiento 2704
-Blue and green pavilions
Palermo
Tel: 4816-8704

• Hours: 1:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.
• General Entrance: $38
• Seniors and Students: $20
• Kids under 12 free

Take a Tango Tour

Buenos Aires’ Hippest Hostel: Art Factory

Which Art Factory Hostel Location is Better?

La Noche de Los Museos: A City-Wide Art Walk

What to See on Museum Night

Free Bus Pass

ArteBA: Buenos Aires’ Annual Contemporary Art Fair

Transportation

Ciudad Emergente 2011

Mucha Música

Literature, Rock-docs and Free Downloads

ArteBA — Buenos Aires’ Contemporary Art Extravaganza

Book Airport Transfer

Book Cheap Flights

Porteño Corner

Walter Freiberg

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