Shelters

Shelters.................Bogota may be one of the most eclectic cities in the world. Its status as the nation’s capital added to its geographical position mean that for people from all surrounding areas, for Colombians from all over the country, and for a large number of the millions of internally displaced persons uprooted by Colombia’s civil conflict, this city is port of call, a point of departure, and very often the final destination.This situation makes for diversity at all levels, not just in terms of population but also in gastronomic, cultural, religious and political terms. It has also brought with it a huge variety of different aesthetics which come together all over the city, at all levels. The resulting mix grows more outlandish every day. Seen from afar Bogota is an immense patchwork metropolis made up of scraps of all colours, shapes, sizes and textures.This photographic project (on which I have been working for the past couple of years) presents these differences, this aesthetic amalgam. Behind it lie an interminable war, a population determined to demonstrate who they are and where they have come from, and a growing disorder in the political and administrative spheres. But above all, these photographs show the fervour of a people to carry on in spite of all, to continue living and growing as citizens of a country that has displaced, ignored and mistreated them, who by sheer perseverance are constructing day by day the country of the future, and with it an authentic aesthetic and cultural Colombian identity.

Alfonso F. Castañeda Feletti

(57) 315 899 [email protected]