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Fundación esART promotes contemporary visual arts from Bolivia
Work of fourteen contemporary Bolivian artists will be on display from 26 June through 18 July 2004 in Pulchri Studio in Den Haag. Fundación esART from Bolivia, a partner of Hivos, hopes the exhibition will show that contemporary Bolivian art includes more than just the more internationally familiar crafts and paintings from the colonial period. Its contemporary art shows that Bolivia is more than just the Andes, cold and mountains. According to artist Roberto Valcárcel on esART’s web site, art in Bolivia is maybe even more diverse than elsewhere.
Since 1991, Fundación esART has been engaged in the development of the visual arts in Bolivia. The emphasis is on creating more public recognition of Bolivian art and artists. Through the mediation and promotion of esART, more Bolivian artists are being invited to national and international exhibitions. EsART also has its own exhibition space in La Paz.
One of the tools for promotion is the web site. Via a somewhat peculiar navigation system, this web site offers a broad overview of Bolivian artists, background articles about Bolivian art and the addresses of important art institutions in the country. A three-year subsidy from Hivos has enabled esART to work on the web site and update it regularly, but also to do more to promote artists nationally, regionally and internationally. esART wants to create a public for Bolivian visual arts by placing wall paintings and sculptures in public areas.
According to Roberto Valcárcel, contemporary Bolivian art is ‘inclusive’. In many works diverse elements come together: pre-Columbian and contemporary, historical and a-historical, local and international. Perhaps esART itself will also grow to become a complete and ‘inclusive’ platform for Bolivian art over the next three years.