More than 180 pieces from the Ethnological Museum of Berlin arrived in Santiago, Chile for the exhibition Africa, presented at the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda. LAN CARGO transported the works on two cargo flights operated on Boeing 777Fs, demonstrating the company’s expertise in the handling of sensitive cargo.
The transport of the pieces is a critical phase since climate insulation is necessary and the pieces must be packaged to absorb any light vibrations and properly fit with other objects transported.
Discover LAN CARGO’s efforts on this challenge.
180 pieces of African art came to the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda in Santiago, Chile, from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. LAN CARGO's experience in transportation and handling of delicate cargo led those responsible for the exhibition to rely on the company for the transport.
The works were transferred by land from Berlin to Frankfurt where they were delivered to LAN CARGO, responsible for the transportion to Santiago. The cargo flew onboard two Boeing 777F cargo flights. The 12 tons of art were distributed among 40 wooden boxes and divided into two shipments, respectively arriving at Santiago’s airport on July 15 and 17.
The transport stage of the works is the most delicate and requires the most care. The design of the packaging and the type of boxes used for transport are fundamental: the pieces should be isolated climatically and properly placed to absorb vibrations and to fit in with the rest of the objects.
Given that the majority of the objects transported for the exhibition were sculptures, the packaging required longer time of preparation to ensure that there was no movement inside the boxes during flight. On the outside, they were labeled with symbols that marked the position of the box and their fragility, while preventing exposure to outside elements.
Once LAN CARGO unloaded the cargo, it was moved to the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda. There, the boxes remained closed for acclimatization during 24 hours.
After 24 hours acclimatization of the pieces, boxes were opened and each piece checked. They remained in the heated storage of the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda until the set-up of the exhibition.
Unpacking and setting up an exhibition of this kind does not take more than ten days, but before distributing the pieces between the rooms, the construction, adaptation and layout of the displays is essential, so that the lights and temperature are adequate. Taking this into the account, the Ethnological Museum in Berlin informed beforehand the conditions necessary for the exhibition of the works.
Africa arrived in Chile ten years after its introduction in Brazil with an enhanced program, covering general concepts of African art history with an emphasis in the common history between Europe and Africa. This foundation allows the aesthetic quality of the work without interventions to be featured.
LAN CARGO carries out such shipments with the goal of connecting Latin America with the world through artistic and cultural expressions from different countries and continents. For this exhibition, the pieces transported to Chile are the best selection of the Berlin collection, one of the world's most important in African art. Until now, Africa received over 100,000 visits. It will remain open to the public until November 24, 2013.