Human beings are curious by nature; their desire to investigate, to know the reasons behind things, has been fundamental in building what we call civilization.
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Human beings are curious by nature; their desire to investigate, to know the reasons behind things, has been fundamental in building what we call civilization.
Knowledge is the basis for debating, transforming, accepting, or confirming what one encounters in one's surroundings; curiosity is the basis of the research process, since through it new interactions are generated, resulting in experiences with a specific purpose that solve, expand, resolve, or complicate an identified need.
At the dawn of the 21st century, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá set out to showcase the research-creation work being carried out at Colombian universities, specifically in the field of the visual arts.
This is how, in 2004, Proyecto TESIS was born as a concrete initiative inviting recent graduates to present the results of their research in a museum space.
The museum has become a visual and social laboratory, a setting for dialogue where different kinds of knowledge become a polyphonic piece, and a platform that propels graduates in their artistic careers beyond university life: their first appearance as new visual arts professionals before society, with all the challenges and implications that involves, but with the support of a museum.
In keeping with the lessons learned over these eighteen years, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture through the ReactivARTE program, we have invited artists who at the time took part in one of the editions of Proyecto TESIS, to see how their artistic practice has evolved in light of the circumstances our country is experiencing, with special emphasis on young people's demands regarding their present and future.
It is well known that in the field of the arts, the initial path is far more arduous than in other disciplines; prospects for paid work, professional recognition, and access to museum spaces are an almost titanic task, and the vast majority are left out. Proyecto TESIS has specifically sought to break down this barrier by supporting recent graduates from the very start of their professional lives, validating their graduation project as experience on their résumé.
We echo the many and varied concerns expressed by young people in their demands before the government, society, universities, companies, and the system as a form of social organization.
The need for their recognition as social actors, the appreciation of their contributions, respect for their origins, ideas, and convictions, their dignity; but also their fears, and the precariousness of employment conditions that threaten their present and future, generating insecurity, instability, and anguish.
Also their joy and their sadness, their enormous desire to fight, and their proposals for changing the world through a dissident social order that questions authority, power, education, and consumption.
For us, believing in young people means giving society fresh air; it means being open, without fear, to the natural and constant change inherent in new generations.