Urban art has many benefits, from the colour it adds to our streets to the space it gives for political and social expression. But a more tangible benefit could be seen at a recent art auction organised by Lure media and Galería Beta, where a number of works went under the hammer to raise money for charity.

Galería Beta’s Daniela Camero Rosso told us, “I believe that urban artists are always eager to help and you see that in the fact that they are always giving workshops, and of course in the fact that they are painting on the streets and that they want to get their message across to people without getting any money in return.”

Art from DJLU, Toxicómano, Juegasiempre, Erre and others was up for auction in front of an audience that included the great and the good of the city’s art world.

Daniela added, “These are amazing artists in the Colombian arts scene and the Latin American arts scene, and the fact that they were willing to help was another thing that made the auction beautiful.”

The aim of the auction was to raise money for Fundación Pescador de Letras, which works within a disadvantaged community in Cartagena offering education and social development programmes to 120 children aged 3-12.

Daniela said that the event had been a success, thanks to the Calle 93 venue and the great artists and galleries who made people want to go and support such a worthy cause. “Of course, they get a beautiful piece of art in return for their support, which is a win-win situation,” she said.

Events like this are also important, she added, because they help to change the perception of urban art in Colombia which – although still considered by some to be vandalism – ought to be valued as highly as other forms of art. 

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The Bogotá Post visits rural communities in Colombia’s most forgotten corner and hears first-hand how armed groups continue to terrorise rural communities.

Sarah Lapidus

W

hen the Colombian government signed the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, many thought the conflict was over. But the FARC’s conversion from an armed group to a political party has left a power vacuum in rural areas where their guerrillas were once present.

Filling this gap are drug gangs, re-emerging guerrilla groups, and shadowy armed groups. And, as in the past, these fighters are now targeting civilians and small-scale farmers, often from both afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

Those who speak out are most at risk. According to the Defensora del Pueblo, since the start of 2016, over 460 social leaders have been assassinated. 

So even as communities struggle to adapt to the post-conflict era, and preserve the memories of the victims from decades of state conflict with the FARC, new threats are on the rise.

Nowhere is this more apparent than Alto Guayabal, a village and Emberá Katío indigenous reserve set in the rainforest of Chocó, Colombia’s wildest and most westerly department.

“The conflict  has worsened. The ELN guerillas continue to commit crimes, assassinate and carry out kidnappings. Also, the paramilitaries, like the AGC, are stronger than ever. There has been little political effort, especially by our president, Iván Duque,” 22-year-old local activist Larry Mosquera tells The Bogotá Post during the second Festival de Memoria held in Alto Guayabal. 

The annual festival is organised by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP), a human rights nonprofit watchdog. The commission has also assisted the Embera community to create a humanitarian zone where – in theory – armed groups are banned. However, that ban is proving hard to enforce: in the weeks before our visit the indigenous community had reported gangs with guns terrorising villagers. 

But even with these recent threats, the Festival de Memoria goes ahead in Alto Guayabal, bringing together dozens of people from all sides of the conflict – ex-military, ex-FARC, and civilian victims – to share their stories.

A chance to speak out

Also present are delegates from Colombia’s Truth Commission, whose role is to listen and gather victim’s stories. It is part of the transitional justice agreement born from the FARC’s peace process with the state.

Danilo Rueda, the national coordinator of the CIJP, addresses attendees in the communal gathering hut: “The goal is for everyone to recount what they have experienced and what they feel, without accusing anyone,” he says. “This is about having a conversation, because we are convinced that through dialogue we can construct a different country. Words heal the soul.”

A Truth Commission delegate stands up to ask the group, “not to judge others, but simply to understand what is happening in society and how we were able to stop the war.” 

The conflict victims we talk to are grateful for the chance to tell their stories in front of the Truth Commission delegates, but they also worry that as they look back at the old conflict, a new one is emerging. For some it feels that the war never ended.  

“For us, there is no peace,” says Jorge Eliezer, sitting next to his partner in one of the communal huts. Armed men have threatened to kill him.

“They killed my cow, took our food, and fumigated our land,” he says. “And still, the government hasn’t kicked them out yet. They haven’t fulfilled their promise of land redistribution. The businesses are still there, and they look for intermediaries to enter [our territories] to rob us.” 

His story follows a narrative common in Colombia, according to human rights groups, whereby people with business and commercial interests use armed groups to threaten small-scale farming and indigenous communities, all part of a plan to force them to give up their land or sell it at a low price. 

In their effort to dislodge farmers from their properties, these gangs will escalate their threats to murder and massacres. Fear of these attacks can displace thousands of people and even whole communities. 

The CIJP has documented dozens of these types of threats and attacks. In fact the week following the Festival de Memoria, seven militia entered the community in a failed attempt to murder indigenous Embera community leader Bernado Zapilla. He was kidnapped and injured after being mistaken for another community member. They were thought to be members of the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC), one of the powerful armed groups that has grown since the peace deal was signed.  

Keep pushing for peace

Meanwhile, victims displaced by previous waves of violence are still waiting for financial reparation and restitution of land previously stolen. 

Many barriers still exist to getting back to their land, explains 16-year-old Diomedes Daveiba: “We want to return to where we were living before, but we can’t return. There are too many mines. We want them to clean up the mines on the roads, but there is no effort by the government.”

Meanwhile in the midst of continued conflict, communities like Alto Guayabla keep pushing for peace, explains El Espectador columnist Laura Mendoza, also taking part.

“In Colombia we talk about constructing peace. This event is constructing peace. None of us work alone in supporting the process, in raising awareness. There is a lot of work being done despite the continuous violence,” she explains. 

It’s a theme taken up by Larry Mosquera. Despite the continued violence, assassinations and fear in the community, he underlines the need to keep going. 

“The situation is very sad, but in the rural communities we continue to resist and fight for true and sustainable peace.”

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Bogotá Art District: A taste of some of the visual delights on offer in San Felipe.

Emily Hastings

There’s been a mini art revolution brewing in San Felipe for some years now. With 16 galleries in what’s become known as the Bogotá Art District, or BAD, the small zone has become a hub of creativity.

It’s not quite the Soho of Bogotá – or Boho as it should probably be called – but the creative community is already a firm fixture on the city’s art landscape. Indeed, San Felipe is one of the three districts to be included in the ARTBO weekend circuits.

What takes me there on a rainy Saturday is ‘Experimenta el Arte’, an event organised by Lure media (the team behind the comprehensive Living in Bogota guide). Lure’s boss, Boris Kruijssen tells me, “After we received several requests, we decided to move into organising experiences – we want to help people to uncover some of the city’s hidden secrets.”

The walking tour began at Galería Beta, which is run by Daniela Camero Rosso. She gives us a potted history of San Felipe, and explains that the man behind the area’s artistic development is architect and patron of many Colombian artists, Alejandro Castaño.

“This collector succeeded in getting various of us to move into the barrio, and then the other galleries started to come in a natural way,” she explained.

We were lucky enough to visit Castaño’s private collection – an Aladdin’s cave with practically every inch of wall (and indeed floor and parts of the ceiling) crammed with the work of artists from all over the continent. Camero told us that Castaño has supported a number of Colombian artists from their early days and continues to do so, a passion that shines through in the sheer volume of art. From videos in cubby holes to a dragonfly that flickers to life; chanting miniature crowds brought alive through a vinyl record to paper guns carved into the pages of a book; at every step and every turn there’s something else to catch your eye.

The two floors of Camero’s Beta gallery reflect the two sections of their collection. “One of modern art,” Camero enthuses. “That branch is focussed on contemporary art, particularly abstract and conceptual art.” We see this downstairs in Diego Mendoza’s woodblock prints showing an upside-down world of trees and machinery.

Upstairs, we are transported to the colours of La Candelaria with the familiar styles of well-known graffiti artists like CRISP and DJ Lu. Awash with colour, the urban art branch of the gallery opened two years ago. Camero says, “Our goal is to promote art more in open spaces, not only in closed ones.” That’s why they have done 15-20 interventions, when art takes over a public space as a sort of pop-up gallery area, within the neighbourhood.

The SGR gallery is a different beast entirely. We are greeted by a mess of melted wax chairs in front of a static screen – mirrored on the other side of the room by rows of pristine chairs lined up in front of a screen showing a chair. A symbol for nations of couch potatoes melting into images of themselves?

The galleries are not the only interesting thing about San Felipe. If you haven’t yet discovered Chichería Demente, an open plan restaurant that opened a few months ago, you are in for a treat. I’d go back time and again for their zucchini fries and palmitos frescos alone.

If the fries can’t tempt you, San Felipe is simply a must for anyone who wants to get a better feel for contemporary Colombian art.

Check it out:

Galleries of San Felipe: FLORA ars + natura, SKETCH, Instituto de vision, Liberia, Casa 4, 12:00, Galería Beta, Permanente, Rincón Projects, Estudio 74, Casa Valhalla, SGR, Espacio KB, Estudio 101, Plural, Fundación Arkhé.

 

If you are thinking about checking out the big BAD art district, Camero recommends the noches de San Felipe (@nochesanfelipe). Every two months, all of the galleries open their doors between 7pm-10pm.

Lure will also organising activities in San Felipe from June onwards. Contact them on info@luremediagroup.co or instagram @lurecityguide to find out more.

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