The first phase of the Art that Protects project documented the place of artistic and cultural initiatives developed by community-based organisations in the city of Medellín in the landscape of nonviolent self-protection. Issues such as legitimacy, permanence in the territory, and the commitment to socially engaged art appeared as key elements to understanding the self-protective character of these initiatives. In our investigation we found, firstly, that violations are not produced on the basis of isolated categories such as gender or age, but by a combination and superimposition of different social factors; and secondly, that the network of relationships and alliances between artistic and cultural organisations is a key strategy that allows them to generate sustainability and “armour” in the face of violations. More information about Phase I of the project is available here.
These findings were further explored in the second phase of the project, in order to identify the type of networks that have been formed, how their exchanges take place, and what collaborative strategies they use, and to understand the effects on the self-protection of communities in the context of the urban conflict in Medellín from an intersectional reading of social vulnerabilities.
RESEARCH TEAM
- Beatriz Arias López, Universidad de Antioquia (principal investigator)
- Adriana Diosa, Cultural corporation for development Arlequín y los Juglares
- Freddy Giovanni Pérez Cárdenas, Cultural corporation for development Arlequín y los Juglares
- Sandra Maryori Benitez Diosa Cultural corporation for development Arlequín y los Juglares
PROJECT OUTPUTS
Creating Safer Space Working Paper
English: Arias López, Beatriz Elena, Laura Jiménez Ospina, Sandra Benítez Diosa, Adriana María Diosa Colorado, Giovanny Pérez, Intersectionality, Rights Violations, and Self-Protection in the Context of the Urban Armed Conflict in Medellín, 2022-2024, Creating Safer Space Working Paper Series 3(1), 2025.
Spanish: Arias López, Beatriz Elena, Laura Jiménez Ospina, Sandra Benítez Diosa, Adriana María Diosa Colorado, Giovanny Pérez, ‘Interseccionalidad, vulneraciones y autoprotección en el contexto del conflicto armado urbano en Medellín, 2022-2024’, Creating Safer Space Working Paper Series, 2(2), 2024
Series of Short Films: Art That Protects and Intersectionality
Through a series of five videos, we analyzed how beliefs, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender can simultaneously act as sources of vulnerability and self-protection, using an intersectional perspective.
- In collaboration with Luis Fernando García “El Gordo,” founder and director of Barrio Comparsa, we explored how artistic organizations create images and works rooted in their ethical principles and values, reflecting their members’ stories and responding to the demands of their context.
- Juan Marcos Díaz, director of Robledo Venga Parchemos, shared insights on how violence in urban conflict contexts affects children and youth differently. For this reason, artistic and cultural organizations offer alternatives that help resist the pressures of armed groups.
- The founders of Biocomunidad, Nelson Berdugo and Giovany Caro, highlighted how economic precariousness and informal labor impact many cultural and artistic organizations in the city. Also, they emphasized that the social value of artists transcends their financial circumstances.
- Ludis Soto Cruz and Óscar Manuel Zuluaga, members of Arlequín y los Juglares, discussed how Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations on the outskirts of Medellín face inequalities due to their ethnic identities. However, these communities express their knowledge and perspectives through art, strengthening their dignity.
- Diana Torres, Iris Andrea Álvarez, and Ana Milena Nanclares, members of Renovación, demonstrated how everyday power dynamics perpetuate gender stereotypes. Cultural organizations foster spaces for resistance and empowerment, especially for women, through community and artistic participation.
Art That Protects and Intersectionality 1: Category Cosmovision – Barrio Comparsa
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 1: Categoría Cosmovisión – Barrio Comparsa
Art That Protects and Intersectionality 2: Category Age – Robledo Venga Parchemos
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 2: Categoria Edad – Robledo Venga Parchemos
Art That Protects and Intersectionality 3: Category Socioeconomic Status – Biocomunidad
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 3: Categoria Estatus Socioeconómico – Biocomunidad
Art That Protects and Intersectionality 4: Category Ethnicity – Arlequín y los Juglares
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 4: Categoría Étnica – Arlequín y los juglares
Art That Protects and Intersectionality 5: Category Sex and Gender – Renovación Art Corporation
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 5: Categoría Sexo y Género – Renovación Corporación Artística
Series of Podcasts
Through three podcast episodes, we examined how art has served as a self-protection strategy over the last forty years and as a tool for networking. These networks have enabled grassroots artistic and cultural organizations to enter communities and engage with their residents.
- Luis Fernando García recounted the tools used by Barrio Comparsa to reclaim public spaces for the residents of Manrique in the 1980s.
- Members of Ziruma shared how their work has made them stronger than the conflict, using theater to narrate the life and memory of the neighborhood and its people.
- The members of Sueños de Papel explained how support networks allowed them to recognize and build upon the work of those who had previously established the neighborhood, connecting with community leaders.
Podcast, Chapter 1: Let’s Change the Toys, Let’s Change the Game
Podcast, Capitulo 1: Cambiemos los juguetes, cambiemos la vuelta
Podcast, Chapter 2: Stronger than War
Podcast, Capitulo 2: Más fuertes que la Guerra
Podcast, Chapter 3: Connections that Support
Podcast, Capitulo 3: Conexiones que sostienen
TIMELINE OF ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS
