By José Gandue @Gandour
The Colombian diaspora is on the move, and quite active, as we have seen in recent times. One of the main meeting points abroad is Barcelona, where, for many decades, A constantly growing community has strived to stand out within one of the most culturally vibrant cities in Europe. Everything said is confirmed by the first edition of Somossapiens, an event that brings together musicians and visual artists who decided to establish themselves in the Eixample district, in the heart of the Catalan capital, more precisely in Kilele, premises located at 349 Valencia Street, February 21st and 22nd. Upon learning about Somossapiens, we contacted Santiago Ayerbe, A Bogota native residing in Spain for some years, one of the organizers of the Bogota event Yavería Festival, who, in turn, is one of the creators of this competition.
What is Somossapiens 2020 about?
It's a space for conversation exploring different facets of human expression; it's a quest to energize other social spaces, through creation and enjoyment. We want to create a space to build networks—we as migrants, primarily Colombians here in Barcelona—with other creators from around the world, as well as those already here. It's a first step toward creating a network and a space for artistic creation.
Who is participating in this event?
It all started with a group of friends who got together a while ago here in Barcelona. Most of us moved here for our studies 4-5 years ago, and after talking about what we were each doing, we decided to start managing our own spaces for sharing and connecting. We put out a call for submissions to share among friends of friends, and our reach expanded, but mainly we're networking with people who want to showcase their work and have a good, high-quality proposal. Most of us are Latin American, Colombian, but we have some friends from other places who contacted us, were interested in the project, and also joined this first edition.
What will Somossapiens sound like in its first edition?
Musically it is varied, it has two strong axes, the song, with Adriana Ospina, Nautas Loops, Le Big Sur And Flamingo Groove, which are band projects, with very interesting offerings ranging from jazz to Balkan ska. But above all, with song-like musical structures.
The other axis will be more experimental, led by Mr. Gaviria of Banana Sound Cartel, Nixer from Morzillah Sound system and Hobbez, from Indian Seal, which will have electronic and tropical touches.
There is another space dedicated to visual arts, how was the curatorial process carried out?
We developed a curatorial text with Santiago Ríos, a designer who works in museography, and approached it from very personal perspectives, as migrants and people who face change, different experiences, yet share common ground. Through Somos Sapiens, we decided to call for reflection on what it means to be a person with a unique perspective but with a universal experience such as being human, migrating, and facing common challenges, and thus pose these kinds of questions to artists. From there, we shared an open and organic call for submissions with certain requirements, and we began receiving very interesting proposals in installation, illustration, photography, and video.
Finally, will Somossapiens 2020 confirm once again that Barcelona is also "Barcelombia"?
Hahaha, totally agree. There's a huge and strong community of fellow Colombians here, and I think we should both support and encourage each other, connecting with the world of possibilities that come with migrating. For now, I can tell you that we're building bridges to create opportunities for Colombian musicians and artists on this side of the world, and we hope to share these projects with you soon.
