Beefing-Up Creative Programming: An Art Residency Housed in a Historic Bolivian Meat Factory
Exploring the Undervalued Presence of Bolivian History
mARTadero & The Culture Wars
As I started to explore in my last post, Artist-in-Residence programs are a recent and growing trend among artists around the world. They provide us creatives with an opportunity to plug right into a foreign context with the help and resources of an established local institution. It's a wonderful, diverse, and accessible way to produce art in exciting new places.
The institution that I would like to showcase today is mARTadero, a historic former “matadero” of meat production facility in the Villa Coronilla neighborhood of Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 1924, the historic matadero of the city was built to supply the area with freshly-slaughtered beef and pork. Fast-forward to new millennium, Fernando Garcia of Spain decides it is an opportunity too potent to leave untouched. He fires up his creative juices and get to work, launching Bolivia's first internationally-oriented art center and residency program.
The Face and Facade of Creative Development in Cochabamba
One of the most compelling aspects of this residency is the opportunity to live and work in the Villa Coronilla neighborhood, internationally recognized as one of the most important locations during the Bolivian war for independence in the early 19th century. Indigenous women of the neighborhood rallied to defend their territory and rights, being dubbed the “Heroinas de Coronilla.”
A Monument to the Heroines of Cocha
Socially, Bolivia and particularly Cochabamba are heavily segregated by region, class, and ethnicity. This is a common issue in South American countries - wealth is affiliated with the people who seem mixed with European descent while poverty is seemingly tied to the “indigenous” populations of the area. This point in history is extremely interesting as the current President, Evo Morales, is the first elected to that position with Aymaran heritage.
Today, mARTadero leads the city's international and local creative activities, establishing a nexus where Bolivian artists and practitioners from abroad can come together and specifically tackling more difficult social issues such as the ones of segregation. MARTadero's mission is primarily on the development of the neighborhood in terms of the buildings themselves, the engagement and equity of the community, and the use of creative work to promote knowledge exchange. MARTadero's ambition continues to resonate visually and socially throughout the city. In fact, my creative partner at the time simply googled “social-impact art South America” and mARTadero was one of the top choices.
mARTadero's Graffiti Biennial
These are one of the few incredible places I was able to experience due to Artist-in-Residence programs. The first month I spent here in 2014 was so invigorating that my colleague and I decided to use the site as basis of our graduate thesis projects. If you've partaken in a residency, anywhere, please share below!
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