This year holds particular importance for the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá (MAC), as it marks 50 years since it began its work in 1966. From its very origins, this museum was conceived as an alternative, peripheral space that would serve the entire community living in the Minuto de Dios neighborhood and its surroundings; the lack of cultural spaces in the context of a city as cosmopolitan as Bogotá remains evident, which is why a museum of this kind holds invaluable relevance, especially given its endurance over these five decades within the city’s cultural field.
This year holds particular importance for the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá (MAC), as it marks 50 years since it began its work in 1966. From its very origins, this museum was conceived as an alternative, peripheral space that would serve the entire community living in the Minuto de Dios neighborhood and its surroundings; the lack of cultural spaces in the context of a city as cosmopolitan as Bogotá remains evident, which is why a museum of this kind holds invaluable relevance, especially given its endurance over these five decades within the city’s cultural field.
Many projects have been created by the MAC to encourage new talent in young art over these 50 years: in its first stage, the Salón de Arte Joven, La Bienal Internacional de Arte Joven and the Salón de Agosto; later, the Salón de Nuevas Expresiones Plásticas and the Salón Nacional de Artes Plásticas; and in its most recent stage, Proyecto S.A. and Proyecto TESIS.
Our commitment to young art is not incidental; it is a real and ongoing commitment that has served as a platform for more than five generations of artists, both national and international; we can say that almost any artist who has distinguished themselves in the field of visual arts has had some kind of relationship with the MAC — this not only makes us proud but also commits us even further to the new generations of visual artists in our country.
The 2016 edition of Proyecto TESIS confirms this ongoing commitment to culture and to contemporary artistic practices; we know it is not easy to begin a career in this field, and so gaining access to a space consolidated over five decades holds great value for all those making their way as protagonists of visual language.
The projects presented in the 2016 edition carry all the characteristics of a language still under construction, one that allows itself to be permeated by our reality in every field, but with special emphasis on the social — on the struggles and longings of our nation, on failed dreams, but also on hopes, on the paths that open up in this new historical moment in which the war has come to an end; visual artists employ every resource available to them: from the simplest tools, such as drawing, to the most complex, such as programming, audiovisual media, installation, and performance.
With great satisfaction we see the diversity of these works and, within them, a reflection of the diversity of our country; understanding these differences, accepting them, and valuing them is part of this new historical stage we are living through in Colombia: we can express ourselves in any language, we can disagree, we can diverge, we can interact, we can build, we can engage in dialogue, we can dream.
This whole range of possibilities opens up, and multiplies, when we are able to understand our differences and accept them as part of building a complex reality, in a complex world, in a complex universe.
For 50 years now, El Minuto de Dios has understood art as the broadest form of dialogue between differences, as a space of inclusion, a meeting point, and a system for the collective construction of reality; we hope that the next 50 years will allow these conditions to expand exponentially for the benefit of all citizens.
The show opens on September 10, 2016
Artists: Paula Varela, Jonathan Castiblanco, Mariana Noreña, Sonia Rojas, Lina María Rodríguez Perico, Paula Malagón, Alejandro Serna, Daniel Ochoa, Sara Bustamante, Laura Tobón, Cristina Jaramillo, Nicolás Williamson, Juanita Fajardo, Gabriela Ballesteros, Natalia Felacio, Andrea Duarte, Joseph Hernández, Carla Ramos, Sandra Martin, José Euclides Piamba, Paula Yunda, Diana Patiño, Julián Paz, Germán Sánchez, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Genny Varón, Natalia Murcia, Mauricio Combariza, José Muñoz, Aura Rico, Nora Gutiérrez, William Martin, Jonathan Casalles, Gisella López, Willman Fonseca, Sonia Yepes, Carlos Martínez, Daniel Escobar y Esteban Lara Valencia
Gustavo Ortiz Serrano
Director
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá