The Salón Nacional de Artistas is the longest running state-funded program to support contemporary art in Colombia.
Over the past 76 years, the Salón has established itself as a fundamental source for the construction of Colombian art history.
The program by the Colombian Ministry of Culture was created in 1940, as part of the educational policy of the national government.
In 2016, the Salón Nacional de Artistas presents its 44th edition, named AÚN (Yet/Still), which engages the history of the program with contemporary issues.
The program “reviews the environment and the territories that create, recreate and question the stories that have built the idea of nation, a territory in development,” it said in a statement.
The word AÚN in Spanish can refer to something that is still there or yet to come. Curator Victor Albarracín says: “When we talk about AÚN we are talking about the survival of something. This AÚN is a political exercise which searches for transformation through art.”
The curatorial team of AÚN includes Rosa Ángel, Artistic Director, Victor Albarracín, Inti Guerrero and Guillermo Vanegas.
“The regional research from AÚN 44SNA explores the diversity of contemporary artistic production processes in Colombia, as well as the issues faced by its conception and production,” says Guillermo Vanegas.
AÚN 44 SNA presents three different components: exhibition, formations, which promotes artistic and curatorial residencies and theoretical seminars, and editorial, which presents meaningful publications that reflect contemporaneity.
“Since August 2015, we have been working on AÚN. We have adopted a set of guidelines about the lands and territories on which the project is situated. The dialogue between this process and the artists is what gives meaning to AÚN”, says Rosa Ángel.
Albarracín says: “Colombia has become an important destination for the globalization of art. And here, there are tensions everywhere. Challenges. Yet it is when facing this complex landscape that opportunities for thought and reflection arise, and that is what art does.”
Colombia’s Salón Nacional de Artistas runs until November 14. More information is available here.
