The Colombia Pavilion at Expo 2020 is hosting a wide array of cultural activities during this whole month of December as part of the UAE Golden Jubilee celebrations providing visitors a glimpse of the nation’s culture, music, film and performing arts. The South American country’s pavilion will host a variety of events, including film series, performances, and exhibitions by prominent Colombian artists.
As part of the celebrations, Colombia’s Minister of Culture Angélica María Mayolo Obregón is also visiting Expo 2020 between December 7 and 9 to meet with members of the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth. The visit aims to explore cooperation opportunities between UAE and Colombia, culminating in a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cultural initiatives.
To kick-off its series of musical performances, on December 8 and 9 the awarded all-female musical group Guarura will be performing Joropo, a Colombian musical genre characterized mainly by the sounds of harp, capachos or maracas, bandola, bandolín, tiple, bandolón and guitar. The pavilion will also feature Julio Victoria, one of the most influential producers in Colombia’s electronic music scene, to entertain visitors with his distinct musical performance.
In addition, from December 20 to 22, visitors will be enticed to dance with the beats of Joe Taylor & the Fire Band, from the Colombian Island of San Andres, for a reggae music concert, highlighting traditional Caribbean music and the sounds that hype up dance halls.
Meanwhile, visitors can view the masterpieces of visual artists Sergio Mantilla Soler and Miguel Chaparro Alvis from December 28 to 30, including the artists collaborative work on their famous virtual installation ‘Unibirds’, inspired by Colombian biodiversity. The two Colombian artists worked together to help raise awareness about climate change and their works have been exhibited in various countries such as Japan, the United States, Belgium, and Germany, among others.
The pavilion is also exhibiting Soler’s solo masterpieces which explore the relationship of human beings and the way they perceive and construct time, as well as Alvis’ exemplary projects of public art, sound, audiovisual, and scenography design.
Visitors to the Terra Pavilion can also catch the special film-showing of Colombia’s famous ‘El Olvido que seremos’. This multi-awarded film, with a plot about an almost supernatural bond between a father and a son, is based on the book written by the Colombian writer Hector Abat Facciolince. Other films to be shown include Jinetes del paraíso, Jericó, los Ajenos, and El Piedra.
In recent years, Colombian films have received international recognitions and nominations such as in the Oscar Academy and Goya Awards. The country also is also the host to the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI), the oldest film event in Latin America celebrating milestones in cinematography of Ibero-America and the world. The nation’s film and TV production industry has been positively growing and is known for exporting television programs in various markets. Colombia’s famous telenovelas have successfully crossed continents and have been aired in various platforms and channels across the world.
Throughout the duration of Expo 2020, visitors can marvel at the famed ‘Reclining Woman’ sculpture at the Botero Garden located outside the nation’s pavilion. This iconic and massive work of art is one of the masterpieces of the Colombian artist, Fernando Botero. Master Botero is one of the most popular Latin American artists of the last century, thanks to his figurative style known as “boterismo.”
The nation’s cultural jewels, arts, music, and creativity are poised to charm visitors as they tour the Colombia Pavilion at Expo 2020 and attract them to visit the country for an unforgettable cultural experience. Colombia stands out as one of the top cultural tourism destinations, with nine cultural elements declared by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
