Bogotá is the focus of Latin American art

For four days, Bogotá will once again be at the heart of the Latin American art scene. From September 24 to 27, Ágora Bogotá – Convention Center will host a new edition of ARTBO Fair, an event that brings together the market, contemporary creation, collecting, institutions, and debate around an art scene increasingly connected to international circuits.

ARTBO offers a comprehensive overview of the various stakeholders involved in shaping the contemporary art ecosystem. The main Galleries section will coexist with Editorial Encounter, Institutions, Conversations, Trajectory, and Art Chamber, creating a program where the circulation of artworks shares the spotlight with knowledge generation, professional exchange, and the presentation of new perspectives.

The list of galleries also confirms the regional scope of the event. Alongside Colombian spaces such as Adrián Ibáñez Galería, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Casas Riegner, Espacio El Dorado, La Balsa Arte, La Cometa, Nueveochenta, SGR Galería, and Vermelho, galleries from various parts of Latin America and other international art circuits are represented. The presence of Carmen Araujo Arte from Caracas; AM Galeria from São Paulo; Herlitzka & Co. from Buenos Aires; Espacio Andrea Brunson from Santiago, Chile; Galería Arteconsult from Panama City; and Leon Tovar Gallery, based in New York, paints a picture that transcends Colombian borders. The participation of mor charpentier, with a presence in Paris and Bogotá, demonstrates the extent to which the fair functions as a space for connection between local and international art scenes.
In this context, ARTBO once again functions as a space where the economic dimension of art coexists with other forms of circulation. Galleries present artists and projects aimed at collectors, but a broader conversation also unfolds around them, focusing on contemporary practices, institutional models, publishing, research, and new generations of creators. During these days, Bogotá becomes a particularly receptive territory for encounters between artists, gallerists, curators, collectors, museums, and the public.

The week will also have a distinctly Catalan flavor. As part of ARTBO, visitors can see Visions of Catalonia Crafting Art , a selection of creators and works made in Catalonia that presents contemporary crafts as a field of research situated on the increasingly blurred border between craft, art, and design. The project champions the knowledge of traditional trades and materials without confining them to a purely heritage-based concept, instead relating them to thoroughly contemporary issues such as technology, sustainability, identity, experimentation, and creative processes.

Bonart's Colombian programming will also be integrated into this intense week of art. Issue number 3 of Bonart International, with a strong focus on Colombia and diverse cultural realities across the Americas, will be presented as part of this presence in the country . The magazine arrives in Colombia with a mission that goes beyond editorial dissemination: to establish connections between scenes, agents, and territories, and to understand internationalization as a tool for generating new conversations.

The tour will begin in Medellín on September 22, with the presentation of the new international edition at the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín (MAMM), in a meeting that will bring together, among others, the artist Alejandro Tobón, the collector Gustavo Villa, the cultural manager Silvana Tobón, María del Rosario Escobar, director of the Museum of Antioquia, the historian and curator Christian Padilla and Ricard Planas, director and founder of Bonart.

Two days later, already in Bogotá and coinciding with the start of ARTBO, the Edgar Negret Museum will host the presentation of a work resulting from a collaboration between the museum and the urban artist El Xupet Negre. The event will bring together the artist with Edgar David Buitrago Mancilla, the museum's director; Fernando Cuevas, curator, cultural manager, and artist; David Planas, representative of the Generalitat of Catalonia; and Ricard Planas.

The timing of ARTBO, Visions of Catalonia Crafting Art, and the presentation of Bonart International 3 allows us to see this week in Bogotá as more than just a series of events. It reflects a desire to build connections between Catalonia and Latin America through distinct yet complementary languages: the art fair and the market, contemporary craftsmanship, and cultural publishing. ARTBO provides the international stage; Visions of Catalonia introduces a reflection on the boundaries between craft, art, and design; and Bonart offers a publishing space from which to observe and connect the cultural scenes on both sides of the Atlantic.