#ArcoColombia at ARCOmadrid 2015 The 34th edition of ARCOmadrid welcomes Colombia as the guest country of honour. In collaboration with the Government of Colombia, the #ArcoColombia programme involves the participation of ten galleries from this country selected by curator Juan A. Gaitán, Director of the Tamayo Museum (Mexico). Each one of these galleries is presenting the work of two artists, also selected by the curator. “Generally speaking, visitors to ARCOmadrid tend to have good knowledge of the art scene in Latin America and know the most famous artists from that region fairly well. For that reason, I have chosen to focus this section on 20 very young artists who have not had so much of an opportunity to show their work and processes outside of Colombia.” Juan A. Gaitán Further information: Iciar Martínez de Lecea Press Officer Tel.: (+34) 917 225 177 [email protected] Helena Valera International Press Tel.: (+34) 917 225 174 [email protected] Leyre Peletier Editor Tel.: (+34) 917 225 820 [email protected] www.arco.ifema.es Follow us on: GALLERY CASAS RIEGNER DOCE CERO CERO CITY Bogota Bogota EL MUSEO INSTITUTO DE VISIÓN JENNY VILÀ LA GALERÍA LA OFICINA NUEVEOCHENTA SEXTANTE VALENZUELA KLENNER Bogota Bogota Cali Bogota Medellin Bogota Bogota Bogota ARTISTS Liliana Sánchez / Ícaro Zorbar María Alejandra Garzón (Suntuosa) / Edgar Jiménez Manuel Calderón / Jorge Magyaroff Carolina Caycedo / Carlos Motta Ricardo León / Mónica Restrepo Adriana Marmorek / David Peña Pablo Gómez / Iván Hurtado Marcela Cárdenas / Jaime Tarazona Catalina Jaramillo / Angélica María Zorrilla Liliana Angulo / Edwin Sánchez Besides the galleries, the programme includes the #ArcoColombia Hall - an institutional booth organised by the Government of Colombia and designed by Liliana Andrade and Toquica Estudio de Diseño, which will be the backdrop for presenting independent spaces, international events, publications dedicated to art and Colombia's art institutions. All of them have had a decisive impact on shaping the art world in Colombia. Cultural Dialogue and Exchange The Colombian art scene is also reflected at ARCOmadrid in the Forum and the Professional Meetings, which offer a platform for reflection and exchange between guests and galleries. Prominent art world professionals will feature heavily in the schedule of professional meetings that, on this occasion, will involve prestigious curators and critics from Colombia. These include Juan A. Gaitán, who will lead the Professional Meeting What is the public?; Jaime Cerón, curator at the Misol Foundation; Maria Iovino, independent curator and researcher; Maríangela Méndez, curator and lecturer at Universidad de los Andes; Natalia Bonilla, director of Fundación BIACI; José Roca, Estrellita B. Brodsky adjunct curator for Latin American art at the Tate Gallery and director of FLORA ars+natura; Víctor Manuel Rodríguez, art historian, LGBT activist and vice-rector of Universidad Pedagógica; María Belén Sáez de Ibarra, Museum of Contemporary Art, Universidad Nacional; Emiliano Valdés, curator, MAMM, Medellin, and assistant curator of the 10th Gwangju Biennale; and José Darío Gutiérrez, director of the Bachué Project. The last two will also be participating in the Forum, in which other Colombian professionals from the contemporary art world will also be speaking, such as María Mercedes González, director of MAMM; Solita Mishaan, director of Fundación Misol; Ángela Pérez, Banco de la República; Carolina Ponce de León, visual art advisor, Colombian Culture Ministry; and Santiago Rueda, independent curator and researcher. The Forum programme also includes the Artists’ Talks led by María Inés Rodríguez from Colombia, which will involve artists from her country such as François Bucher, Beatriz González, Mateo López and Luis Fernando Ramírez Celis. Finally, Colombia’s presence at ARCOmadrid will also feature the presentation of awards to important Colombian figures in the contemporary art world, two of the recipients of the 'A' Awards for Collecting given out by the Fundación ARCO. The International Collecting Award has gone to Colombia's Banco de la República and the 'A' Special Award is being presented to Celia Sredni de Birbragher, founder of the magazine ArtNexus. Further information: Iciar Martínez de Lecea Press Officer Tel.: (+34) 917 225 177 [email protected] Helena Valera International Press Tel.: (+34) 917 225 174 [email protected] Leyre Peletier Editor Tel.: (+34) 917 225 820 [email protected] www.arco.ifema.es Follow us on: These professionals will be joined by active collectors and other special guests from Colombia who will attend ARCOmadrid to exchange ideas and forge links with participating galleries. This year, one of Fundación ARCO's advisors will be the Colombian Ángela María Pérez Mejía, Deputy Culture Manager of Colombia's Banco de la República. Furthermore, #ArcoColombia will spill out beyond the halls of the art fair and across city with almost 50 different events at venues around the capital, such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia; CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo; Matadero; Conde Duque; Tabacalera; CentroCentro; La Casa Encendida; Casa América; and the Cervantes Institute. The programmes Focus Colombia and Colombia in Madrid will involve numerous activities on Colombian art, exhibition projects, collective shows, individual exhibitions, video art and performances, with pieces by over 60 artists. With Jaime Cerón and María Wills as curators, this initiative of the Colombian Government is going to be an unprecedented display of Colombian contemporary art in Spain.