Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center

The Centro Gabriela Mistral

The Santiago audio-guided tour presents you with the Gabriela Mistral cultural centre, the "GAM", one of the great places of artistic creation of the capital, which presents theatre, dance, music and visual arts.

A building with an eventful history

Inaugurated in 2010 in a historic building, the GAM had first been built to host a great international conference devoted to poverty and development. After the coup d'état, the building was occupied by the military junta, before recovering, with the return of democracy in 1989, its vocation as a congress centre. A fire damaged it in 2006, and the government then decided to rethink it entirely to make it a vast cultural space open to all.

What there is to see

The GAM brings together several halls of theatre, dance and music, spaces of visual art, a recording studio, libraries, cafés and open squares. One also admires there open-air works, such as a large stained-glass window on the porch or a hanging wicker fish. Its programme, often free, is eclectic and accessible. The centre bears the name of Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American poet to receive the Nobel Prize.

Practical information

The Centro Gabriela Mistral is in the Lastarria district, in Santiago. Its public spaces are freely accessible; the programme, often free, follows its own hours. It is advisable to consult the programme in advance.

Who was Gabriela Mistral?

A Chilean teacher and poet, the first figure of Latin America to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, attached to teaching and to popular values.

What does the GAM offer?

Theatre, dance, music and visual arts, in an eclectic and often free programme, open to all.