As part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Montevideo and the 20th anniversary of MAPI, on June 13 the museum will open the exhibition “Mariano es Montevideo”, a tribute to the man who, from his position as Mayor of Montevideo, made possible the installation and permanence of the museum due to his concern for the rescue and protection of the city’s historic buildings.

Beyond his fundamental role in the genesis and existence of this museum, it is worth noting that the architect Mariano Arana always remained involved as a member of the MAPI Foundation, becoming its president in the last stage of his life.

For these reasons, MAPI has taken the initiative to organize, within the framework of the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Montevideo, and one year after his death, an exhibition in homage to Mariano Arana, to commemorate and celebrate his career in the various fields in which he played an outstanding role.

In order to make this project viable and enable its execution with maximum excellence, MAPI has partnered with the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of the Republic (FADU), from which it has requested support in different aspects of design and content. In this way, it will have the valuable contribution of the Institute of History and the institution’s design and publications office, which today is not only the repository of an important legacy of Arana, recently donated by his family, but also of the complete archive of the Urban Studies Group (GEU) and other original documentary repositories.

The curatorship is in the hands of Prof. Arch. Salvador Schelotto, who, in addition to his personal friendship with Arana, worked directly with him as a collaborator at the faculty and during his two administrations as head of the Municipality of Montevideo. The exhibition “Mariano es Montevideo” deserves to be one of the fundamental events in this year of celebration.

For the gathering of documents, images, objects and materials to be exhibited, the museum already has the collaboration and generous contribution of many people and institutions with which Arana was connected and which hold valuable items to display: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental, FADU, Sociedad de Arquitectos del Uruguay, Centro de Fotografía de la IM, TV Ciudad, Servicio de Comunicación de la IM, architect Rafael Lorente and the Arana family.