After long months of closure due to the pandemic, the three museums reopened in September 2021 but only recovered 15% of their visitors.
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The foundation responsible for administering the legacy of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda launched an appeal for help, Wednesday, April 6, to ensure the maintenance of the three house-museums of the Nobel Prize for Literature. “We are in a very difficult situation”recognized the president of the foundation, while the income of these museums fell due to the Covid-19.
The poet’s two homes on Chile’s central coast, in Valparaiso and the resort town of Isla Negra, as well as his home in Santiago were visited by around 350,000 people each year before the pandemic. Left as the writer had imagined them (who created in each a universe full of fantasy), they all have the sea as their main inspiration. They also house the poet’s countless collections, accumulated during his many trips around the world: bottles, snails, foot warmers and even figureheads.
After long months of closure, the museums reopened in September 2021. But they only recovered 15% of their visitors, due to health restrictions and the prolonged drop in tourism. The budget no longer allows for normal operations. “I can’t imagine the houses of Neruda being closed”said the president of the foundation, which unsuccessfully appealed to the previous Chilean government and private companies for funding.