Bogota, Luis Angel Arango Library, Casa Republicana

“If we dig up precious things from the earth, we invite disaster.”
“Near the day of purification, there will be cobwebs spinning back and forth in the sky.”
“A container of ashes could one day be dropped from the sky, burn the earth and boil the oceans.”

Hopi Prophecies. Lyrics in the song “Prophecies.” 
Last segment of the soundtrack to the film Koyaanisqatsi composed by Philip Glass. 

 
“Digging to the Stars “* is an exhibition on contemporary imbalance, in a transversal and polyphonic dialogue between works from the Banco de la República Art Collection. The central axis of the curatorship presents the work of artists who manifest symptoms of the world's imbalance and ask themselves about the exploitation of the earth, the robotization of industry, the absurdity of war and drug trafficking, senseless technology, the conquest of space, and why we reach for the stars instead of thinking about the welfare of humanity. In contrast, the introduction to the exhibition presents the work of artists who seek signs of a balanced world, before chaos, through works close to nature, landscape and rural life.

The curatorship of the exhibition draws freely from the script of the film Koyaanisqatsi (1982) by director Godfrey Reggio, a striking visual and sound documentary essay that marks a dramatic contrast between a world in equilibrium, before civilization, and an urban world, dominated by technology, self-destructive and unbalanced. The film's title is a Native American word, Hopi, meaning 'life in disequilibrium'. The first images present cave paintings followed in the sequence by geological formations, fast moving clouds, waterfalls and the sea. Gradually we are drawn into images of contemporary civilization, with large-scale farming, strip mining, hydroelectric power plants and dams, nuclear testing in the desert, chaotic city life, highways, traffic and overcrowded crosswalks.

Contemporary artists work in works that are permeable to the changes and threats of the world, and their work is a necessary response to crises, chaos and the future. Some denounce, others use irony in the face of hopelessness, and many document the anomalies of this imbalance.

“”Digging to the Stars “* is an exhibition from the Banco de la República Art Collection that links works by emerging artists from different regions of the country and by artists who have participated in Bank programs such as Imagen Regional or Nuevos Nombres, with works by artists with longer careers and other outstanding works from this collection.

*The title of the exhibition belongs to the work of Lina Mazenett (Bogota, 1989) and David Quiroga (Bogota, 1985), present in the show, Excavar hasta llegar a las estrellas. 2014. Polyptych. Pitch and minerals on canvas. 300 × 600 cm. AP6171.

Camilo's work, “A land reform 19” is in Life in disequilibrium, chapter War: cold, warm, hot.

Adrian's work, “Shhh...” is in Life in disequilibrium, chapter Orderly chaos. 

The exhibition will be on display until March 28, 2025.
Bogota, Luis Angel Arango Library, Casa Republicana