QM051C01 – Artist Residency - Fall - 2009 - Casa Tres Patios
Umesh Kumar, Bangalore, India
Arts Collaboratory Residency September 15 – December 15, 2009
Umesh Kumar arrived in Medellín on September 15, 2009.
Within the first week Santiago Vélez, the co-director of the Casa Tres Patios, and professor in the Department of Fine Art in the University of Antioquia and I introduced Umesh to several local artists and art students, and at the same time, Umesh spent the first two weeks of his visit meeting with some of the local artists, exploring the city and investigating possibilities for his work.
Umesh spoke little Spanish, but is a very social person. He wanted very much to share his knowledge and culture with the community here in Medellín.
On October 2, Umesh gave a lecture to a crowd of about 25 people about the history of art in India, contemporary art in India and his own work. The staff of Casa Tres Patios helped Umesh with the translations, and the relationship between art, religion and mythology was made clear, and the public noted the similarities in the progression from figurative work to abstraction to conceptual work in India and Colombia.
On October 7 he visited the city of Armenia where he attended the 13th Regional Salon of Contemporary Art, one of the most important cultural events in the country. Santiago Vélez and a group of young artists in the artist collective called Lenguita Producciones accompanied him while he was there. The collective is comprised of the following artists: Diego Villada, Juan Camilo Londoño, Lina Ceballos, Luz Angela Gómez, Cristina Vasco, Maira Montoya and Jhonny Correa.
On Friday, October 16 he prepared a dinner using traditional Indian spices for the same artist collective. During the meal the artists asked him questions about the art and culture of India. The public in general is always very curious about his culture.
Every year the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá organizes ARTBO, a large international art fair, which includes galleries and art projects from Colombia, Latin America and other parts of the world. On Friday, the 23nd of October, Umesh traveled to Bogotá to attend this art fair an alternative art fair called “La Otra” and to visit the local museums and cultural centers. The Casa Tres Patios provided him with funding, directions, contact information for artists and information regarding lodging. He returned from Bogotá on Wednesday October 28.
On Thursday November 6, at the invitation of Ana Maria Macmaster, a local artist and professor of art, he gave a lecture about his work and the art in India to a group of about 20 students in EAFIT University, a private university in Medellín. These students are all over the age of 50, so this was a unique opportunity to share his experience and the cultural traditions with a group who normally do not visit alternative art spaces such as the Casa Tres Patios. These students have enjoyed professional careers and have had the opportunity to travel, but very few had any experience in India, and they were fascinated with these presentations. They asked several questions and asked Umesh to return to continue his presentation on Tuesday the 10th of November, which he did.
On Friday the 13th of November, Santiago Rueda, a curator from the Universidad Naciónal in Bogotá conducted interviews with me regarding the role of alternative art spaces in Medellín, and Umesh regarding his experience here, and his work. These interviews will be broadcast via the channel PrismaTV (http://www.prismatv.unal.edu.co/) on a program called Óptica.
On November 17th Umesh began his multi-media workshop. He worked with the following 9 art students from the University of Antioquia: David Arango, Vanessa Forero Ramírez, Mauricio Jaramillo T., Felipe Montoya, Luis Bernardo Escobar, Maryluz Guzmán Toro, Sebastián Gómez V., Katerine Ruiz Rojas and Andrea Isaacs. The results of the workshop were shown to the public on the Friday, the final day of the workshop in conjunction with the opening of his first exhibition.
This project has been interesting to observe. A recurring theme in the art from Medellín has to do with a literal or narrative approach to making art. Even the best artists from Medellín often use images of the city or its inhabitants. They use them in very creative ways, but more formalist concerns such as the transformations that Umesh achieves with his work are not often found here. He challenged the participants to look at their surroundings and to think about the inherent qualities in objects or materials that they take for granted in order to give them new meaning.
Umesh’s exhibition opened on Friday, November 27. There were approximately 40 visitors, which is a low attendance figure for Casa Tres Patios. The attendance for the openings is usually about 80-100 people. We attribute this low attendance to the fact that there were four other events taking place on the same night. The exhibition was shown for approximately one week.
On Monday December 7th Umesh began to work with Viviana Palacio on an installation that would be titled “Healing Blanket.” This work makes use of the landscape as a metaphor for a blanket under which we are all bound together by organic threads. The public opening was held on Thursday December 10th.
Umesh completed his residency on December 15.
Everyone who came into contact with Umesh was touched by his willingness to share his experience as an artist and his insights into his culture. We hope to have future residents who are equally generous.
