Paintings capture the unseen side of Colombia's war

Posted on Monday, 10.19.09
Paintings capture the unseen side of Colombia's war
An exhibit in Bogotá features harrowing images from Colombia's decades of conflict, all painted by people who saw it firsthand -- former combatants.

Photos BY SIBYLLA BRODZINSKY
Special to The Miami Herald

BOGOTA -- At first glance, the childlike strokes and bright colors of the paintings of the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art's latest exhibit suggest bucolic scenes of Colombia's countryside: Small, colorful figures fill town squares and farms lie in the shadow of towering mountains or by fast-running rivers.

But a closer look reveals landscapes covered in blood, with camouflage-clad men wielding chain saws against their victims, limbless bodies floating in rivers tinged red with blood, women being raped and entire towns under siege.

The exhibit, called ``The War We Haven't Seen,'' brings together 90 paintings by about 80 former combatants of Colombia's 4-decade-old conflict. ``It's a mix of innocence and horror,'' says Juan Manuel Echavarría, a Colombian artist organized the workshops where the ex-fighters learned to paint.

But Echavarría stresses that the workshops were not about turning the fighters into artists or about saving people.

``This was about creating historic memory in a country where memory has been lost,'' Echavarría said.

Colombia has lurched from one war to another during its 200-year history, leaving hundreds of thousands of victims. Drug violence in the 1980s and '90s traumatized the nation. The latest conflict has seen the rise of powerful right-wing militias and leftist guerrilla armies.

Most of the paramilitary fighters demobilized under a deal with the government in 2005, but rogue factions continue to terrorize some areas of the country. And while rebel groups have been beaten back from the urban centers, they still have an estimated 10,000 fighters in arms.

FOCUS ON VICTIMS

Echavarría worked separately with demobilized right-wing paramilitaries, deserters from the Marxist FARC guerrilla group, and wounded soldiers from the Colombian army. He was surprised by the results. He had thought the most recurring theme would be combat among the different sides of the war. And while there are many paintings that show armed confrontation, most depict scenes where victims are the central figures: the hanging and torture of a peasant, bloody mass graves and victims begging for mercy before being shot.

`VISUAL CONFESSIONS'

Echavarría's own photographic series, videos and films have focused mainly on the victims of the conflict. But a couple of years ago, it occurred to him to seek out the vision of those who have not only seen the war but have lived it. He asked them to put some of their most horrific memories on canvas.

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