It’s no longer news that Colombia has not been haunted by civil war and violence of drug trafficking, at least not in such an extreme way as it was back in 1990 and 2000. That the cities of Bogota, Medellin and Cali rose back again under a bold urban plan of revitalization, have become international references and started receiving an increasing number of foreign tourists, is neither a surprise. What is news to most people is that Colombia, and especially its capital, Bogota, has, in the last few years, quickly consolidated itself as one of the most fertile centers for visual arts in the South American continent, whether in relation to production, or the strength of its consumer market and engagement of their public and private institutions.
There is no better time to witness this fact than the beginning of October, when five art fairs take place at the same time in the capital – led by ARTBO – in a addition to Luis Caballero contemporary art award, which spreads works and installations throughout city, as well as several exhibitions held at in museums and art galleries. ARTE!Brasileiros was in Bogota this October and covered most of the arts circuit of the capital. In addition to seasonal events, in the recent years the city has witnessed a significant growth in the number of specialized publications and the transformation of its neighborhoods, such as San Felipe and La Macarena as a result of the workshops and recently open national and international galleries, such as Fabien Castanier Gallery (Los Angeles). “I have visited Bogota in the past few years and I feel the energy of this place. There is an emerging art scene here, with an increasing number of new galleries, great artists, fairs and museums. Bogota is rapidly gaining ground as an important market hub in Latin America and it will continue to expand. For us, it’s important to be here,” said Castanier, French living in the USA, who has just opened a branch gallery in the city.
The conclusion of the gallery owner is very similar to that of another foreigner who explored the capital city in October, the new Miami Art Basel director, Noah Horowitz: “I feel there is so much vigor here right now. Collectors, artists, plenty of good galleries. I have been around the world, I can say that the energy in Bogota is very genuine, and there is a real sense of commitment of the people to make things happen.” Colombian artists, art institutions directors and curators do not disagree with that, but they refute the idea of an emerging art scene in Colombia. “I think we can eliminate that word ‘emerging’. The arts here have been strong for a long time. The thing is that now they are gaining visibility, but not necessarily because there are better artists. Certainly, the artists’ production has grown, but that has to do with the possibility of having a better structure, visibility, international exchange and the presence of a growing number of galleries and curators. “All that allows that more people dedicate themselves to art, work with art,” says the ARTBO director Maria Peace Gaviria.
Mariangela Méndez, curator of Artecámara – a non-commercial exhibition section in the ARTBO, with works on display by 33 young Colombian artists – has a similar opinion: “Not knowing something does not mean that it does not exist. Colombian art is an example of that. There was no visibility or this whole structure, but production has always been here. I studied art here 20 years ago and you had to do it all by yourself: not only make the work itself, but create its exhibit, mount it, write about it and promote it. In other words, artists and works were basically all that existed, but there was no platform for it to be displayed, sold, discussed and seen.”
Fairs for all tastes
Nowadays, Colombian art has not only become more visible, but the number of events has also increased. ARTBO was created in 2005 as part of a project developed by the Chamber of Commerce, to place Bogota in the Latin American art market and strengthen its local scene and has established itself as the most important contemporary art event in the country. Among other reasons, it has become prominent because it has focused not only on the acquisition of art works, but also on promoting exhibitions, debates, artistic performances, book launches and space creation. With 84 galleries from 33 cities in its 2015 edition (including the Brazilian Luisa Strina, Luciana Brito, Vermelho, Jaqueline Martins, Eduardo Fernandes, Nara Roesler and Sé), the fair has grown significantly over the years with the support of both the government and private companies – but it has been careful not to lose its essence. “The ARTBO has a very specific line–up of Latin American galleries of the highest level. This is quite unique. As an American visitor, I do not come here to see the same galleries that participate in all the main art fairs of the world,” Horowitz said.
Held at a historic building in the city centre, Odeon also grows stronger year after year, reaching its third edition in 2015. Only 21 galleries with a more alternative approach gather in the fair booths arranged in the quaint four–story building’s architecture.
Featuring a majority of Colombian and Brazilian galleries, the tickets to the Odeon are more affordable (about R$ 20, about half the price of the ARTBO) and it offers a greater interaction with the urban life of the city’s downtown. However, the fair that more explicitly intertwines with the agitation of the streets in Bogota is the Barcú, created in 2014 and installed in 11 spaces – mainly historic buildings – in the district of Candelaria. Less rigorous than others when it comes to the selection of participating galleries, the Barcú’s greatest merit is the integration of art into urban spaces, encouraging visitors to explore the many houses of the most pulsating area of the city.
Popularization
If on one hand, each fair has its way of promoting the arts in Colombia, the Feria del Millón (million fair) places more emphasis in the achievement of this goal, i.e., to increase its public attendance and include a larger number of visitors that are new to the world of contemporary arts. The idea is quite simple: works of art costing more than 1 million pesos (about US$ 350) are not allowed and there is no gallery mediation. As a result, on the first day of the event, a crowd of young visitors attended a pavilion in an old industrial neighbourhood, talking with artists and standing in long lines to pay for purchased works of art, as if they were buying drinks in a bar, or food in a market. “Feria del Millón seeks to explore a space outside gallery market, by offering a more casual atmosphere where people do not need to have a lot of money to buy art. Such events encourage people to overcome their fear of art and break the barriers that separate them with the idea that art is something I cannot understand, something highly subjective, that doesn’t say anything to me”, says the young artist Santiago López Carmona, who has been selected to participate in the fair at the age of only 25.
The debate around the popularization of contemporary art in Colombia gained force – albeit slowly – in the discussions and talks held at the fairs in Bogota. In the opinion of José Roca, former curator of the Tate in London and currently director of an independent institute in Bogota – FLORA ars + natura – public attendance is growing but it is still small in contrast with other art events. “The ARTBO is attended by 30 thousand people, which is a lot, but the book fair receives 500 thousand visitors, and the Theatre Festival reaches all strata of the society of Bogota. That is to say that the access to contemporary art is still restricted to an intellectual elite. Whoever sees a painting sees art, whether they like it or not. But when people see many of the other languages used in contemporary art, they do not understand it because that is not integrated into the social imaginary. So the more we work to expose the public to the contemporary proposals, whatever they are, the more they become part of people’s minds. And then, the question is no longer whether this is art or not, but whether a work of art interests them or not, move them or not.”
A country in the process of transformation
Now freed from the issues of civil war and violent drug trafficking, and with a growing structure in the universe of the arts – financing, curators, popularization, organization of fairs, creation of exhibition and commercial spaces – Colombia now watches its new generation of artists expand their array of themes, languages and research lines. Political and social issues, which prevailed in recent decades, now share space with issues of everyday life, technology, or more abstract concepts such as the tension between the heavenly and the mundane, the attention to the origins or to the infinite. “Art is a reflection of the society that produces it, and the issue of violence is less addressed. Of course many artists still discuss this subject, but it is no longer an urgency to talk about this matter in art,” says Roca. In fact, contemporary art not only reflects, but also promotes the remarkable transformation that the Colombian society has undergone in recent decades, as architecture reflected the process of urban revitalization in the country. “Until a decade ago the world saw us as synonymous with Afghanistan, Iraq…” notes Mendez. She continues, “Now the attention has turned to Colombian art for other reasons. The elements that make up the art world, which includes not only artists, but also curators, critics, exhibit spaces, galleries and institutions, have become more sophisticated and more professional. As a result, the country’s image goes through a transformation.
Deixe um comentário