Ursula Fischer recently returned home via Frankfurt. With you there are many impressions, beautiful experiences, photos and acquaintances. How did this adventurous journey come about and what were the experiences? – that was what NÖN wanted to know from Ursula Fischer.
“On my first visit to Brazil, I wanted to travel some distances by train. I am an enthusiastic train traveler and my trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Neulengbach to Shanghai made this enthusiasm even greater”, reports the gallerist. His Brazilian son-in-law explained to him that there were no trains in South America, only buses. It was there that the idea of traveling around South America, or at least part of it, by public bus first came up.
“My family wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea and the fact that I wanted to go on this trip alone”, says Ursula Fischer, laughing. The very idea of traveling thousands of kilometers by bus immediately alienated all potential companions. This didn't bother her and gallerist Neulengbach left alone for São Paulo. From there we went straight to the huge bus station. “It seemed almost impossible to find the right bus to Florianópolis among hundreds of bus stops, but I finally did it,” says the adventurer.
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As part of the trip, Ursula Fischer also visited the government building, “Casa Rossada”, in the heart of Buenos Aires. In southern Argentina, gallerist Neulengbach met the famous Argentine painter Guido Ferrari. Ursula Fischer endured hour-long journeys on public buses to get from one city to another. The gallerist explored cities on foot and, whenever possible, also saw them from an aerial perspective. Ursula Fischer also visited Galeria San Martin de Los Andes, among other places. “It’s one of the best in Patagonia”, he enthuses. Argentine painter Guido Ferrari presented his various works to the Neulengbach gallerist. Gallerist Neulengbach visited many cities on her adventurous journey.
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The family was worried
Gallerist Neulengbacher was traveling alone through South America. Ursula Fischer started a very special trip in December. On this trip she also visited the painter Guido Ferrari.
After two days in Florianópolis we headed to Porto Alegre, from there on a night bus to Montevideo. “We had a flat tire at 4am, but it was handled very professionally.” Ursula Fischer spent New Year's Eve in Uruguay, which is much calmer than Brazil. The next stop was Colônia del Sacramento, a beautifully preserved colonial city. Then we took the ferry to Buenos Aires in just two hours.
Neulengbacher took a plane to Bariloche to visit her “old” friend from the gallery, Guido Ferrari, who had already exhibited with her. “Christine Hell met this Argentine artist in Böheimkirchen almost five years ago,” says the gallerist. “Guido was cycling around Europe at the time and financed this with paintings he painted during the trip. To this day I am very grateful to Christine for that meeting.” Guido Ferrari became a successful artist in Patagonia and exhibits there in a very renowned gallery, which gallerist Ursula Fischer, of course, visited. “With Guido and a photographer friend we took a great tour of the famous seven lakes of Patagonia.”
The gallerist is, naturally, very pleased that the Argentine artist Guido has spontaneously decided to return to Europe and exhibit at the Lieglweg gallery on September 8th.
We continued by bus on an 18-hour trip to Santiago de Chile. “When you travel by bus you get to know a country and its dark side very well”, says Ursula Fischer and explains: “Bus stations are not always in the shiny areas of big cities and you get to know a lot of simple people. With a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, I was sometimes able to converse very well.” Of course, it's not the very poor who ride the bus, but rather the lower middle class, some with children and grandparents. The trips are well organized.
“I have rarely experienced anything dangerous, although I have explored all the cities mainly on foot. Only once, in Porto Alegre, I didn't pay enough attention and entered a very run-down place. An older Brazilian man introduced himself as Carlo, called a taxi and gently guided me to him. I didn't quite understand what he told me in Portuguese, just this: this is not a good area and I shouldn't go for a walk here.” She had many “guardian angels” throughout the trip, Neulengbacher concludes with great gratitude .