CABEI approves US$130 thousand donation to equip Guatemala's National Art Museum with an immersive virtual room

Guatemala City, March 28th, 2022.- The National Art Museum of Guatemala (MUNAG) will soon have an immersive virtual room that allows for the projection of high-quality videos and images on LED screens. This is thanks to the support of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which approved a US$130,000 donation to the Ministry of Culture and Sports (MCD) for the implementation of the Museum's second phase.

The new technology, which uses a pre-production process to adjust images to a 3D model, will be used as an educational and outreach tool appealing to people's senses, generating in turn an increase in visitation and making a new educational space available.

This was announced on Monday at the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the donation, which took place at the Palacio de los Capitanes Royal Cultural Center in the colonial city of La Antigua Guatemala during CABEI's monthly board meeting held in that city.

"We are very pleased to contribute to the strengthening of national heritage and the promotion of Guatemalan art. This cooperation will allow MUNAG to become a benchmark in the use of technologies, making incursions into an innovative concept that will make it possible to establish new museum scenarios, break the space limitations and improve the visitors' experience," said CABEI Executive President Dr. Dante Mossi.

For his part, the Minister of Culture and Sports, Felipe Aguilar Marroquin, said "Providing this technology to Guatemala's National Museum of Art, MUNAG, will allow us to further disseminate messages of knowledge and recognition of our cultural heritage of more than three thousand years, which is evident in the treasures that this unique museum houses, created as part of the work axes of the President of the Republic, Dr. Alejandro Giammattei, for the enhancement of the country's cultural assets."

CABEI Director for Guatemala, Pedro Brolo Vila, commented, "With the investment in this heritage space, the Bank seeks to promote culture and foster inclusion, as well as diversity and attract tourism, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals by protecting and safeguarding the world's cultural and natural heritage."

CABEI Executive Vice President Jaime Díaz Palacios, CABEI Director for Guatemala, Pedro Brolo Vila, and the Minister of Culture and Sports, Felipe Aguilar Marroquin, participated in the event, which symbolizes the beginning of the second phase of the museum. Also participating were representatives of the Board of Directors of the 15 CABEI member countries and MUNAG officials.

This initiative is part of the 2020-2024 Institutional Strategy: "CABEI, Pillar of Sustainable Development in the Region" and the Regional Program for the Protection of Archaeological Sites (PRO-ARQUE), an initiative that makes financial resources available to the Central American region's countries to help promote the preservation, protection and transmission of the cultural and natural heritage present in their archaeological sites.