Ecuadorian Artists in Spain Bridge Contemporary Art and Migration

The La Mar de Músicas festival in Cartagena, Spain, is currently highlighting the work of nine Ecuadorian artists. Their contemporary art pieces engage with the complexities of migration, forming the core of an exhibition titled ‘Los de aquí’ (Those from Here).

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The exhibition is mainly a constant dialogue between cultures, between countries, between artists and between ideas, all starting from the common question of what it means to be ‘from here.’

Curators María Garberí and Pepo Devesa describe the exhibition as a continuous dialogue between cultures, countries, artists, and ideas. A central question driving the artists is the meaning of being ‘from here.’ The participating artists, including Roberto Rivadeneira, Dia Muñoz, Nebraska Flores, the collective Zooa, CMAL, Fundación Proarte, Azul Macas, Pamela Suasti, and Alexandra Cuesta, explore this theme through diverse mediums such as painting, sculpture, installation, and video art.

Garberí emphasized the importance of supporting contemporary artists in their current production to build future heritage. The exhibition also features commissioned photographs by local artist Adrián Madrid. He immersed himself in the Ecuadorian community in Cartagena, capturing their daily lives. Additionally, ten families were given disposable cameras, contributing their own photographs that interact with Madrid's professional work and the other exhibited pieces.

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Contemporary art is, basically, art by people who are alive, who are producing, and it is in that production that they must be supported to generate future heritage.

Artist CMAL, originally from Quito, drew inspiration from personal family photos for his painting series ‘La mirada de mi madre’ (My Mother’s Gaze). He deconstructs these intimate images, removing faces to universalize the scenes and prompt reflection on identity and origins. CMAL believes these images will resonate with the Ecuadorian community who arrived in Spain in the late 1990s, evoking childhood memories.

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I believe that the Ecuadorian community that arrived in the late 90s will be able to identify with this, to ignite memories of their childhood through these images.

Nebraska Flores delved into her own family history, specifically the absence of connection to relatives who emigrated to Spain in 1999, the year she was born. Her work addresses the convergence of different worlds, the feeling of displacement, and the process of building a new home and community for future generations. Even static landmarks, like Madrid's Monument to the Discovery of America, are reinterpreted by the artists. The collective Zoopa, César Jumpa and Astro Escudero, contributed ‘La profecía’ (The Prophecy), a cyanotype made from lichens on the monument, symbolizing nature’s slow reclamation of human structures.

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of the sense of displacement and how others build a community, a home in which future generations can also dwell.