Chile’s Violeta Parra Museum Reopens Six Years After Arson
6April 7, 2026
A little over six years after being targeted by arsonists during wide-ranging protests inSantiago, Chile, the Violeta Parra Museum has been reopened to the public, theArt Newspaperreports. Beginning in October of 2019, citizen grievances with the Chilean government regarding the cost of living and metro fare prices gave way toexplosive proteststhat went on to last formonths, and the museum eventually suffered fires inFebruary of 2020.
The museum is dedicated to housing the works of Violeta Parra, a folk singer and activist known as one of the founders of the populist “Nueva canción” (New Song) movement in the 1960s and ’70s. Parra was a multidisciplinary artist who also made sculptures and tapestries, and she was also the first South American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre. TheVioleta Parra Museumwas refurbished with heat-resistant windows, and additional security has also been employed to guard the premises.
“The museum didn’t suffer structural damage during the fires, so we didn’t have to make major changes to the infrastructure,” Denise Elphick, the museum’s director, told the Art Newspaper. “It wasn’t 100% destroyed. And that allowed us to focus on the rehabilitation, which consisted mainly of restoring the concrete to its original state. Eight months ago, the museum was black, covered in soot.”
Thankfully, the museum had fire insurance—the overall restoration cost $1 million.