Entre Nubes (Between Clouds)

Colombia is the country with the highest internal displacement in the world. Being a centralized country, a considerable percentage of this migration concentrates in the capital. "Entre Nubes" is an artistic experiment which takes place in San German, an informal neighborhood located on the southern outskirts of Bogotá, next to the Entre Nubes nature reserve. Here, displaced families from all regions of Colombia converge, including ethnic minorities, ex-militaries, and ex-guerrillas, revealing the country’s complicated context.

Living in an "illegal" neighborhood implicates living in a marginal Bogotá, where the land is constantly disputed, the police don’t arrive and violence is often the first option for conflict resolution. “Entre Nubes” organizes and documents creative workshops in the territory, that aim to provide safe spaces for profound experiences to take place and to ignite ideas and common interests within the community.

Much of the workshops so far have focused on painting houses in the neighborhood with the guidance of renowned street artists. We chose this medium following James Q Wilson's Broken Windows theory which states that investing in the public space of a community can help transform the social dynamics in the place. So far, “Entre Nubes” has painted 13 houses with the community.

I have been photographing the place since 2016. In January 2020 I took the prints to the community and organized a collage workshop for kids in the neighborhood. We are also currently editing intimate conversations between community members. These conversations reveal nuances of the people who make up this place and also touch on universal aspects of human relationships. “Entre Nubes” has also helped finance the materials needed to begin the construction of a communal house in the neighborhood, a project led by the urbanism collective @en-material and the community. All these initiatives seek to strengthen the identity and sense of belonging in San German.

Entre Nubes has been self-financed by tickets sold for a Caribbean party held in May 2019, by selling prints from the project, and with paint donations from @bandybandygallery.

In the future, we would like to offer longer workshops where children and young adults get to imagine and create a visual representation of their longings and dreams for the future of the neighborhood, and also organize a large scale exhibit inside the neighborhood of all the work done in the past three years.

People who have participated so far:

Street Artists:

@iam_mrjoe

@gabrielangelart

@tangara.arte

@teck24horas

@tintadelrio

@jaalmiron

@tatyteart

@tonraton

@sebagua

@negritamambo

@21cuervos

@malcrewoficial

@fonso.co

@cigarraentinta

Musicians:

@andy_oooh

@magicman_dj

Graphic designer:

@kpamaki

Artists:

@versusyuma

@dylanquintero

@docteurmiller

@danielaariza

Psychologist:

@kama_chong

Urbanists/Architects:

@EN-MATERIAL