Artist Doris Salcedo created Fragmentos, Espacio de Arte y Memoria (space for art and memory) in the city of Bogotá D.C. in 2017. Fragmentos is a counter-monument and a space for reflection on the Colombian conflict. Having inverted the usual meaning of the monument, the artist conceived a space which seeks to create dialogues based on the ruptures that the conflict has created, recognizing the extreme experiences suffered by millions of Colombians instead of exposing an epic version of history as traditional monuments tend to do.

Fragmentos presents itself simultaneously as a living artwork, a place of memory and a space for artistic creation. The artwork consists in a construction whose floor, made out of melted weapons belonging to the FARC-EP guerrilla, has been elaborated with the participation of women victims of sexual violence during the armed conflict.

The space weaves together the concepts of surface, silence, emptiness and ruin, going beyond the traditional idea of monument. Salcedo claims that this place has a human scale which, thanks to peace, allows Colombians to stand on a new reality. Fragmentos presents emptiness and absence as inherent elements of the artwork, evidencing and remembering the unavoidable void left by the war.

This space of commemoration has been disposed of as a physical, free, and open to the general public place with the intention to reflect on multiple memories of the conflict through artistic processes. Its objective is to encourage a diversity of interpretations fostering difficult, provocative, and consequently, reflexive dialogues, rather than generating a unique look over history.

Fragmentos seeks the construction of a collective vision of the future by means of the exhibition of present and future generations of artists whose works of art rework memories of conflict. Through a program that brings together artistic exhibitions, cultural activities, conferences, and workshops, the space proposes a participatory reflection on the relationship between art and memory, understanding art and culture as possible scenarios for reconciliation.

OBJECTIVE:
Fragmentos, through the Ministry of Culture and the National Museum of Colombia calls for Colombian and foreign plastic and visual artists, as well as artists with transdisciplinary vocations, to carry out an artistic intervention in the space. Exhibition rooms 1 and 3, and the main corridor of the space will be available for such purpose. The artwork must deal with the Colombian conflict, international armed conflicts, victims’ memories and the construction of peace; it may include as well experiences of peace agreements and reconciliation processes of Colombia and other countries. The artistic intervention must dialogue and respect the counter- monument that hosts it.

CANDIDATE PROFILE:
Colombian and foreign plastic and visual artists, or artists with transdisciplinary vocations, who can certify more than 15 years of continuous professional work in the artistic field by means of certificates which may account for the realization of exhibitions (individual and collective) or the presence in catalogues, art books or any other artistic and cultural publication. It is required to submit certificates or any other documentation which may allow the jury to visualize and understand the implementation capacity and viability of the submitted proposal in relation to each of the participants’ experience.
All certificates or support documents must be submitted with the date of their original publication or execution. In the event that several certificates dated in the same year are submitted, only one (1) will be taken into account and verified.
Candidates may apply individually, as a group or as a collective. In the case of groups and collectives, at least 50% of the members must certify more than fifteen (15) years of continuous professional work in the artistic field.

Contact: mariza@museonacional.gov.co

Find more information here.