Temporary Exhibition
Sociales. Débora Arango llega hoy
The National Museum of Colombia, the Ministry of Culture and the Museum of Modern Art - Medellin, present the exhibition Sociales. Débora Arango llega hoy (Socials. Débora Arango Arrives Today). Comprised of 52 medium- and large-sized oil paintings and watercolors, the exhibition showcases some of the work of the most important Colombian artists of the Twentieth Century.
Initially exhibited at the National Museum of Colombia as part of the National Tribute program, the exhibition will eventually travel to the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in California, and then to El Museo del Barrio in New York City.
The research includes a significant number of video interviews with people who knew and were part of the productive life of master painter Débora Arango. The series of videos present fragments of the social and political life in Colombia during the period of time in which the artist created her work, as well as a selection of audio material, as radio had a central role in the transmission of news and in the construction of the imaginaries of the time.
Although today her work is part of the national cultural heritage, Arango was actually a pioneer of Colombian modern art who worked on the fringes and challenged the conventions of her time. She had to confront the prejudices and rejection of the political elites in Colombia throughout her life, in great extent due to the social criticism contained in several of her paintings against the so-called Period of Violence and the emergence of the National Front (1946-1963). An important part of the national memory, the following works are included in the exhibition: Melgar, Huelga de Estudiantes (Student Strike), El Tren de la Muerte (The Train of Death), Los Derechos de la Mujer (Women Rights), La Lucha del Destino ( Destiny’s Struggle), Justicia (Justice), El Almuerzo de los Pobres (The Meal of the Poor), Maternidad (Motherhood), and Violencia (Violence).
Sociales. Débora Arango llega hoy is an exhibition that, while confirming this artist's aesthetic and technical virtues, also underscores the social and political themes associated with a dark period of Colombia’s history- the details of which are still absent from the official memory established and printed in documents, museums, and text books.
