Waterweavers

The River in Contemporary Colombian Visual and Material Culture

On view June 24 - September 27, 2015

Organized by the Bard Graduate Center Gallery, New York City. Curated by José Roca, with Alejandro Martín. 

This presentation of Waterweavers at the OAS AMA | Art Museum of the Americas is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Embassy of Colombia in Washington, DC, our primary sponsor, as well as the Friends of AMA.

Funding for this exhibition is generously provided by Vivian Haime Barg and Leon Tovar Gallery. In-kind support provided by Christie’s and Phillips. Special thanks also to Cristina Grajales Gallery.

ONLINE EXHIBITION | An online exhibition is available here 

EXHIBITORS
Olga de Amaral
Ceci Arango
Alberto Baraya
Monika Bravo
Alvaro Catalán de Ocón, 
David Consuegra
Nicolás Consuegra
Clemencia Echeverri
Juan Fernando Herrán
Jorge Lizarazo
Susana Mejía
Abel Rodríguez
María Isabel Rueda
Lucy Salamanca
Tangrama
Marcelo Villegas
Carol Young

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The confluence of the image of the river and the act of weaving is present both metaphorically and literally across contemporary practices in Colombia. Using the river as a conceptual device to explore the intersections in Colombian culture today between design, craft, and art, Waterweavers investigates the intricate ways in which culture and nature can intertwine across disciplines. This series of displays emerges from a curatorial strategy in which immersive environments presented on the walls frame three-dimensional pieces at the center of each room. The exhibition includes drawing, ceramics, graphic design, furniture, textiles, video, and installations. Unexpected juxtapositions create a critical and conceptual friction between works and practices that are seldom shown together.

Colombia is a country whose complex topography has historically caused waterways to be the only means of transportation between many communities—rivers have both united and separated people. Today, when most Colombians live in cities, rivers continue to serve as the sole access to remote areas, but they also play a new role, as the axis for a different type of economics: the black market fueling the armed conflict that has beset Colombia for decades. Waterweavers addresses these issues from very different points of view, presenting a territory laden with conflict while showing the creative output that nevertheless thrives in the midst of—or in response to—hardship.