The palace where a mystery is hidden

By Flavia Tomaello, https://flaviatomaello.blog/, Instagram @flavia.tomaello

One afternoon in 1937. A painting surrounded by rumors. Characters with secrets and an audience that must decide which path the story takes. That is the proposal of “The Cursed Painting,” an interactive police comedy that turns the National Museum of Decorative Art into the setting for a theatrical investigation where nothing is what it seems.

Presented by the Association of Friends of the National Museum of Decorative Art, the work takes place in the emblematic palace on Avenida del Libertador 1902 and proposes an experience in which spectators stop being simple observers and become part of the story.

With text by Marisé Monteiro and general direction by Nacho Medina, the performance invites you to enter a Buenos Aires in the 1930s, a city that sought to consolidate its modern identity while the world was going through a period of enormous tension. Technology advanced, communications changed and art occupied a central place in a society fascinated by progress and new forms of expression.

In this historical context, the former palace of the Errázuriz family has just become a museum after being acquired by the Argentine State. The transformation of space opens the door to a plot where hidden interests, rivalries and a work of art whose past is marked by questions appear.

The investigation revolves around a famous painting and a series of characters who could have reasons to hide the truth. An ambitious woman who dreams of running the new institution, a man accustomed to luxury but in financial difficulties, an enigmatic Russian tarot reader and a police inspector willing to solve the case are part of this game of appearances and suspicions.

The attractiveness of the proposal is in public participation. During the performance, attendees must pay attention to every detail, interpret clues, analyze behaviors and decide who to believe. Conclusions may vary and each presentation becomes a new opportunity to try to discover what really happened.

The work recovers the atmosphere of a time when Buenos Aires looked towards Europe and aspired to become a great cultural capital. Between elegant rooms, family secrets and an atmosphere full of mystery, the museum is transformed into a narrative space where history and fiction dialogue.

The cast is made up of Alejandro Poggio, Lupi Labunia, Nacho Míguens and Milagros Almeida. The costumes are made by Gabriela Bevacqua, the executive production is in charge of Carolina Uriarte and the directing and stage management assistance corresponds to Augusto Moreno.

“The Cursed Painting” proposes another way of approaching a heritage building: exploring it from the imagination, discovering its corners through a police story and becoming the protagonist of a mystery waiting to be solved.