Prohibido Centro Cultural - Cuenca, Ecuador

La Condamine 12-102, Cuenca, Azuay

This art center is located on a quiet street in colonial central Cuenca, overlooking the Tomebamba river. At first glance it appears as simply a brightly colored storefront, but if you look closely you will see tiny faces carved into the cobblestones in the sidewalk and the stones beside the doorstep. Two totem pole guardian figures in the entrance prepare you for the riot of gargoyles and anthropomorphic architecture you will see when stepping through the door.

Artist Eduardo Moscoso purchased the adobe building which had once been a hotel in 1996. He refurbished the building and opened an alternative art gallery on the first floor to show art "prohibited" from the more conservative art spaces then the norm in Cuenca. The gallery is a cafe hangout and venue for music and video screenings, in a space surrounded by sculptures and murals. There a small museum of erotic and other 'prohibited' art, little grottoes of painted carvings and a doll cemetery. Moscoso is a prolific artist, and his hand is evident on every wall, floor and ceiling of the center. Look for figural steps and benches in the cafe made from concrete and animal bone. A spiderwebbed skylight illuminates the stage area surrounded by log carvings of skulls and phalluses. The darkened cafe is quite cozy with low benches and niches in the stucco walls for small sculptures. Be sure to visit the uniqe bathroom in the back courtyard by the museum.

The artist has added many sculptures and murals since these photos were taken in 2005.

Hours of the Prohibido Centro Cultural