Thames 1721 (between El Salvador & Costa Rica), Palermo Soho

[Note from Alan: Again, as with the Tango stuff, it's great to have Rachel here on the blogging team to help review some shops in Buenos Aires, because this really isn't an area of expertise for me. I'll just stick to writing the beer, food and ice cream reviews, thanks. Know your weaknesses! ;)]

Objetos Encontrados - “Found Objects” in Buenos Aires

One of the pleasures of wandering through the streets of Buenos Aires is you often happen upon a store that is entirely unique to the city, a place that shows the culture’s love for antiquities, trinkets, and anything made by Argentine hands. Objetos Encontrados, in Palermo Viejo / Palermo Soho, is one of these such shops.

It’s a fun place to gaze at the various toys, games, art pieces, and household items that are very much part of the city’s history. Perhaps the porteño obsession with collecting such items has something to do with nostalgia for better days in the city, when things were more stable and prosperous.

Check this shop out if you’re in the Plaza Serrano area

Objetos Encontrados is not a big place, but it’s worth stopping in if you are nearby Plaza Serrano or happen to be popping in for coffee or a book across the road at the Boutique del Libro. There’s a great atmosphere in the shop, like you have entered the toy chest of some eclectic porteño child.

The shopkeeper is an intense, extremely friendly collector and artist named Hernan. Ask him about his personal photography work, or just chat with him about politics in Argentina and life in Palermo as he twists some scrap of metal into an artistic creation. Usually there are a couple of guys hanging out with him, drinking maté or playing guitar, and chatting.

HERNAN: THE KIND OF GUY WHO DOESN’T NEED PHONE CABLES

Antiques and toys with a creative twist make a fun visit

If you notice some similarities between the selection at Objetos Encontrados and the Sunday morning fairs around the city, your perceptions are correct. Hernan goes around to antique sales and finds cool things to bring back to re-sell in his shop.

So why go to his shop if you can find the same things at the markets?

Well, for me it’s really interesting to see how people create businesses in Buenos Aires, in a country with a lot of creativity but perhaps not so many options for innovation. Hernan’s shop is a great example of an artistic impulse that has transformed a space into a business. He has made the “found objects” into an attractive display that makes you feel like you are in a doll house or a museum of artifacts from Buenos Aires’ past. And, it all makes for some pretty cool photos:

In many ways, a lot of the stuff at Objetos Encontrados is pretty damn kitsch. Either you’ll love that or hate it: if it’s the former, then consider paying a visit to this shop next time you’re wandering around the streets of Palermo Soho.