The Great Brazilian Road Trip discovers a giant chess set on the side of the highway. Art discovery and appreciation ensues.
Museu de Kard
After hours and hours on the road, we were starting to feel a bit delusional. And then, a giant pyramid appeared.
... What?...
Is that real? Are we imagining things?
We pulled over to take a look.
Yup. That's a pyramid.
The gate was open so we decided to investigate.
Cell service was terrible so we didn't know it at the time, but we had just stumbled upon Museu de Kard, an open-air art gallery filled with the sculptures of Allen de Kard.
The giant pyramid is titled "Ascensão" (Ascension) and houses an art gallery. Not knowing this, we instead wandered around the grounds, taking it all in.
There's a lot to take in.
None of the exhibits had signs or explanations and there was no one else around.
Is this a public museum or private collection?
We half expected an eccentric home owner to appear out of the pyramid, waving a trident, and scolding us for trespassing.
And then we saw it: the absolute masterpiece.
A giant chess set.
V has been playing chess since he was 6. He has a personal collection of +25 chess sets, many from his travels around the world. In recent months, he's started regularly playing with internet strangers, sometimes becoming so obsessed with the game that he'll play all night.
For my husband, the discovery of a giant chess set on the side of the road was a miracle. V literally ran towards it.
Even though I don't understand chess, I was impressed too.
"Xadrez Nordestino" (Northeastern Chess) pits the larger-than-life icons of Northeastern Brazil against one another.
On the black side: the fierce Cangaceiros. Of course they wouldn't be complete without Lampiao and Maria Bonita (as king and queen, naturally).
On the white side: the State.
This includes the police (as pawns), the governor and first lady (as king and queen), as well as the controversial Padre Cicero (as Bishop) and the iconic Elevador Lacerda (as rook).
Although the pieces are massive, they move.
It's unclear if you could play a game, but we were certainly tempted to try.
Perhaps we'll return when I learn how to play.
Aside from the amazing Giant Chess Set, Museu de Kard had several other exhibits.
Some were easy to "figure out" on our own (like the COVID vaccine) where as others would have benefitted from some signage (like the Rubic's cube building or missing persons maze).
Regardless, Museu de Kard was a welcome surprise after a long day of driving. If it weren't so far out of the way, we'd certainly plan to come back.
Getting There
Museu de Kard is hiding in plain sight just outside of Vitoria da Conquista, in the interior of the state of Bahia.
Unfortunately, unless you have relatives in Vitoria da Conquista, or unless you're a long-haul trucker, you're unlikely to have a reason to pass by or through the town.
However, if you're planning a visit to Chapada Diamintina National Park, the south edge of the park comes relatively close (~3.5 hours away).
If you're following a Northeastern road trip route (Salvador -> Chapada Diamintina -> Ilheus/ Porto Seguro), you should consider detouring a little (a lot) out of your way to see this incredible (FREE) outdoor museum yourself.