International Artist Talks 2009

Due to unexpected changes in Ana Maria’s connection flight in
Mexico city, her talk has been re-scheduled to:
OCT. 16TH, GALLERY 44 @ 7PM.
The OCAD presentation is the same still.

Territorios en Disputa / Territories in Dispute

OCT. 15 - 2009
OCAD
- Room 284
100 McCaul Street
12:30 PM
OCT. 16 - 2009
Gallery 44

401 Richmond St.W
7:00 PM

Territories in Dispute

The 2000’s decade has been considered one of the most critical years in the Colombian conflict. The country has been immersed in struggle between the government, the national army, the  paramilitary  and the guerrilla movement. Torture, massacres and kidnappings have been part of their daily practices. In borderline areas such as El Chocó, Putumayo, Cauca, the fighting has been more intense, displacing the afro Colombian communities, first nations and farmers from their lands.  Their land is being redistributed amidst the invisibility of the victims’ rights. The main issue is that in terms of inhabited lands it is impossible to keep track of any changes in ownership.

In a centralized country, divided by classes and racism, the zones in conflict, which are less white and less developed don’t have strong presence in the collective imaginary. To offset or to counteract this omission we have to design an iconographic niche in order to help the collective imaginary to create new systems of references and resistance. Within this complex social context the work of artists included in this talk propose new perspectives to understand this conflict.

Artists:
Miguel Angel Rojas, José Alejandro Restrepo, Jesús Abad Colorado, Oscar Muñoz, Stephen Ferry,
María Elvira Escallón, Johanna Calle, Alberto Baraya, Rafael Ortiz, Juan Fernado Herrán.

Territories in Dispute