YUMA o la tierra de los amigos (YUMA, or the Land of Friends) by Carolina Caycedo is a large mural containing a series of satellite photographs mounted on acrylic. The mural contrasts and mixes multiple layers of these satellite images capturing the progressive devastation of the El Quimbo dam on the Yuma river (Magdalena), in the Department of Huila. The project was originally produced for the 8th Berlin Biennale, and developed out of the artist’s research into waterways, their political and cultural impact, and their historical development. In this work Caycedo focuses on the particular case of the El Quimbo Dam in Colombia, a dam along the Magdalena River. It was the first hydroelectric power project in Colombia to be constructed by a transnational, private corporation, signifying the transition of this geographically, ecologically, and historically important public body of water into a privatized resource. The dam’s construction required the redirection of the Magdalena River, the main fluvial artery in the country, which affected a vast area and displaced the Indigenous population of the region. Through this case, Caycedo investigates the destructive cultural and environmental consequences of erecting dams, as well as the desire to master the course of nature and the complicity of state power in quelling social unrest.
Carolina Caycedo’s work triumphs environmental justice through demonstrations of resistance and solidarity. The artist uses drawing, photography, film, and performance at venues and vehicles for research and action. Caycedo’s work addresses and laments the corruption of power and the destruction of nature by corporate greed, justified by progress. With regard to pressing concerns of global climate change, causing destruction to communities via droughts and natural disasters, Carolina’s works address the implications and consequences of such carelessness towards the future of the earth and its inhabitants. The artist’s use of technology to mediate these concepts provides a harmonious relationship between content and form. Caycedo’s work offers utopian models to inhabit in a world in which individuals and communities are increasingly subject to commodification, exploitation, and discrimination.
Masiniya Matawali by Subas Tamang is an etching and aquatint print based on photographs taken by German photographer Volkmar Wentzel in 1949...
4 Things That Happened in the Asian Art World This Fall | Artsy Skip to Main Content Advertisement Art Market 4 Things That Happened in the Asian Art World This Fall Hilary Joo Dec 4, 2023 4:17PM In the first of a new quarterly series, we hear from Hilary Joo, a Seoul-based sales manager and gallery partnerships lead at Artsy, for her thoughts on what has happened in the Asian art market this quarter...
Gente Serpiente (Serpent People) is a piece made with the wheels of bikes, twisted, intertwined and painted like skins of tropical poisonous snakes...
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Southeast Asia rap on the rise; Kolektif Hysteria in Jakarta | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar Via Yahoo December 10, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...
To explore the boundaries between artwork and audience, Gimhongsok created a series of sculptural performances in which a person wearing an animal costume poses in the gallery...
Donald of Doom Tank (2008) is a replica of a vintage metal toy with Donald Duck’s image one side and a soldier on the other...
Antonio Ole’s Rhythm of N’gola Rhythms (1978), is a film about the struggle for Angolan political independence...
Easy to fold and carry, Jorge González’s Banquetas Chéveres (Chéveres Stools) embody the nomadic and flexible nature of the Escuela de Oficios...
The Commission: Why do these three meet again? | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Crispian Chan June 28, 2021 By Eugene Tan (1,503 words, 5-minute read) As has become customary for every review of a Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA) 2021 show (or as the festival programme now calls them, “content”), we should applaud the fact that these shows are happening at all...