AUN – 44th National Salon of Artists

Celebrating 76 years of history, the National Salon of Artists (SNA) will take place from September 16 to November 14 of 2016. It is organized by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and, on this occasion, includes the participation of the government of Pereira, in association with the Instituto Municipal de Cultura y Turismo and the Chambers of Commerce of that town, with the support of the Museo de Arte de Pereira and the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira. About the curatorial proposal for this new edition of the event, Carolina Ponce de León, Visual Art Adviser for Ministry of Culture, pointed out that "Every Salon proposes a specific vision and is articulated in connection to an earlier vision. One of the relevant actions in this Salon is that the international research was entrusted to Colombian curator Inti Guerrero." In recent years, the exclusively Colombian nature of the National Salon has evolved to become a place of encounter between national and international curators and artists. This evolution has projected the SNA from Bogota onto the international scene, turning it into a more cosmopolitan affair and consolidating as a contemporary art event looking to promote Colombian artists. For this purpose, the 44th edition of the Salon will take place in the city of Pereira. The curatorial team formed by Rosa Ángel, Víctor Albarracín, Inti Guerrero, and Guillermo Venegas has worked on the ways that an artistic event can transcend its purely aesthetic dimension to become an element that contributes to the transformation of the context in which is developed. About the conceptual foundation of this edition known as Still – 44th edition of the National Salon of Artists, Víctor Albarracín said, "When one utters the word "Still," one is talking about the survival of something. This "Still" is a political exercise that seeks to transform through art." Still – 44th SNA is articulated through three components shaped as conceptual guidelines: an exhibition component, an academic component—with activities like artistic residencies and theoretical seminars—as well as an editorial component with important publications to think and reflect on the present moment. The Salon will be presented in six main venues in the city: the Museo de Arte de Pereira, the former Club Rialto (3 floors), the Alianza Francesa, the Centro Colombo Americano, the Department of Fine Arts of the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira and the Olaya Herrera Park.