The Genius of Francis Bacon

Despite my deep appreciation for art and culture, I'm actually not much of a museum goer. I don't know exactly why I hesitate -- might be the creepy whispering or the slow pace of the walking that goes on in museums. Ridiculous? Yes.

But I go sometimes. I've been to three museums on this trip so far. Each one had me wrapped up with thoughts and questions. These are the ones I have been to and what I gathered as the point of greatest intrigue:

Tanzanian National Museum: Artifacts from the slave trade put me in tears. Tanzania, specifically Zanzibar, was a hub for slaves being sold from Africa to the East. There were collars and chains and the most horrible images. A painful, but important, reminder of our heinous past.

Ethiopian National Museum: Ethiopia is the roots. Seriously. The roots. It's the cradle of us. Right there, in the Rift Valley, humans evolved from apes. There is really no debate about Creationism when you see "Lucy." Her bones were extracted from the Earth 30 years ago and she literally is half human, half ape. (Simbs, I'll sign an autograph for you when I return.)

Museo Del Prado: The feature exhibit was the work of Francis Bacon. I'm in love. New favorite artist. He painted abstract portraits with a bold, raw, emotionally naked style (like the one above). His stuff is beautiful and at times, almost nightmarish. If you Google his name and then click on Images, you can see it for yourself. I wanna write with a similar blend of reality and expression. And his name is Bacon.