MUSEO Y PLAZOLETA JAIRO VARELA

A small museum dedicated to one of the greatest Colombian salsa artists: Jairo Varela (1949-2012), composer, founder, director and vocalist of the famous Grupo Niche, created in 1979. The museum is directed by Cristina Varela, the artist's daughter. The life of the Quibdo-born musician is presented in music, of course, and through photographs, instruments and objects belonging to the maestro or to other famous artists, such as Celia Cruz or Yuri Buenaventura. The museum overlooks a pleasant little plaza(plazoleta) named after the famous artist. It was inaugurated in May 2013, a few months after the artist died of cardiac arrest at his home in Cali on August 8, 2012, a day that no Caleño will ever forget. Jairo Varela was 62 years old. This death surprised and moved Cali and all of Colombia. On this Plazoleta Jairo Varela, we can see an amazing "musical sculpture", made by the architect Freddy Pantoja, which represents the trombones and trumpets of Grupo Niche. The sculpture seen from a general perspective draws the letters of "Niche". Passing under the four pavilions of the sculpture, one can listen to the hymn of the salsa caleña, the famous "Cali pachanguero" original. Then, as you move around, you can hear just the voices of the song, then the wind instruments and the piano, and finally the percussion! In front of the sculpture, we can also guess the keys of a piano composing the pedestrian passage!