CREATIVE TAKE

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Creative Take es un espacio en inglés del CCAB donde el arte y la cultura se convierten en puntos de encuentro para pensar, conversar y descubrir otras formas de ver el mundo.


OCTOBER 2026

Un campo azotado: Between Memory and Fiction

What happens when a story is repeated so many times that it begins to take on a life of its own?
This question lies at the heart of Un campo azotado, an exhibition by Santander-born artist Isabella Arenas, presented at the Art Gallery of the Centro Colombo Americano de Bucaramanga as part of Salas Abiertas 2026.
The project begins with a story from Arenas’ paternal family in San Gil, Santander. Across four generations, a series of tragic deaths gave rise to rumors among local residents, eventually leading some to describe the Arenas family as a “cursed lineage.”
Rather than trying to prove or disprove the existence of such a curse, Arenas enters the uncertain space where family memory, local stories, rumors, and imagination begin to overlap. The exhibition is less concerned with finding a definitive version of the story than with observing what happens to a story as it is passed from one person to another.
In this sense, memory does not appear as something fixed. It changes through time, through places, through the people who carry it, and through the things that remain behind.
Objects, photographs, landscapes, and fragments of stories become traces to be followed. Something that might initially seem ordinary can acquire another meaning when placed within a particular history.
One of the most striking elements in this universe is the camuro. Familiar in Santander and associated with food, family gatherings, and regional traditions, the animal takes on a different role within the exhibition. Here, it becomes an unsettling presence, moving between the worlds of the living and the dead.


This transformation is central to Arenas’ approach. The familiar becomes strange; the everyday becomes ominous. A landscape is no longer simply a landscape, but a place that carries stories. An object can become a clue. A family anecdote can become a rumor. And a rumor can become part of the identity of a place.
Through photography, drawing, ceramics, video, sculpture, and found objects, Un campo azotado constructs what curator Nicolás Cadavid describes as a “geography of fear”: an intimate territory shaped by memory, fatality, and the things that remain unexplained.
The exhibition does not offer a single interpretation of the story behind it. Instead, it leaves room for uncertainty—allowing reality and fiction to coexist, and inviting viewers to consider how stories become part of the places and families that carry them.
Perhaps that is what makes Un campo azotado so unsettling: not knowing exactly where the story ends and where the imagination begins.
And maybe, after walking through the exhibition, we begin to wonder whether that distinction matters at all.
Un campo azotado by Isabella Arenas was presented at the Art Gallery of the Centro Colombo Americano de Bucaramanga as part of Salas Abiertas 2026.

SEPTEMBER 2026

The ideas behind the first American Art Schools

Today, going to art school can mean many things: earning a degree, working in a studio, taking a drawing class, studying art history, or simply finding a community of people who are interested in making things.
But in the United States, organized art education looked very different when it first began.
In the early 1800s, the country was still young and was developing many of the cultural institutions we now take for granted. There were no established American traditions of art education to simply follow. So artists, collectors, and civic leaders began creating them.
One of the most important early examples appeared in Philadelphia.
In 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was founded by a group that included artists and prominent citizens. PAFA was created both as a museum and as a school, bringing together two ideas that would become central to art education: learning from art and learning by making art.
Students could study works in the collection while developing their own skills. At the same time, the Academy provided a place for American artists to exhibit their work and participate in a growing artistic community.
And Philadelphia wasn't the only city thinking about the future of American art.


In New York, the National Academy of Design was founded in 1825 by artists who wanted to create an institution dedicated to exhibitions, education, and the development of American artists. One of its founders was Samuel F. B. Morse — yes, the same Morse later associated with the telegraph. Before that invention changed communication, he was deeply involved in painting and art education.
As the century continued, another question emerged: should art education belong inside the university?
Yale answered that question in 1869 when it opened its School of the Fine Arts. It was the first art school in the United States connected to a university, bringing formal art education into the world of higher education.
But not everyone was interested in following an academic model.
In 1875, the Art Students League of New York was founded by artists and students looking for a more independent approach. The League became known for its emphasis on artistic practice, life drawing, and the idea that artists could learn from one another outside a traditional university structure.
These institutions didn't all agree on what an art education should look like — and that's precisely what makes their history interesting.
Some emphasized museums and academies. Others connected art with universities. Others valued independence and learning through practice.
There wasn't a single formula for becoming an artist.
Instead, American art education developed through a series of experiments — different people creating different spaces to answer the same basic question:
How do you learn to become an artist?
More than two centuries later, we are still finding new answers.

What Children’s Games Can Tell Us About the World
There is something deceptively simple about watching children play.
At first, we recognize the gestures immediately: running, chasing, hiding, competing, repeating a movement until it becomes a game. But in Francis Alÿs’ Children’s Games, these familiar actions become a way of looking at culture.
The project, which Alÿs has developed since 1999, brings together games observed in different countries and contexts. Rather than presenting childhood as a universal experience without differences, the artist pays attention to the particular ways in which children transform their surroundings into spaces for play.


A game can emerge from a street, a field, a courtyard, or an improvised object. Its rules may be passed from one child to another, changing slightly along the way. In that sense, games can function almost like a form of oral culture: they are learned, adapted and transmitted without necessarily being written down.
This is what gives the project its particular tension. The videos are playful, but they are also records of specific places and communities.
The children are not simply entertaining us. They are showing us how creativity works under real conditions. They take what is available and give it another meaning. They negotiate rules, establish relationships and create temporary worlds of their own.
Alÿs’ work also invites a broader question about what we choose to preserve. Museums traditionally collect objects, paintings and documents. But what happens to a cultural practice that exists only while people are doing it?
A game can disappear without leaving an obvious trace.
By filming these moments, Alÿs gives attention to something that might otherwise seem too ordinary to document. The result is a body of work that sits somewhere between art, observation and cultural memory.
Perhaps that is why Children’s Games stays with us.
It reminds us that imagination is not necessarily about escaping reality. Sometimes, it is the way we learn to navigate it.

Beyond Art School: Discovering LA BEBA 2026 in Bucaramanga

What happens to an artist’s practice once the classroom is no longer part of everyday life?
LA BEBA 2026, the first Biennial of Fine Arts and Visual Arts Graduates from Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), offers one possible answer: it grows, changes, and finds new ways of connecting with the world around it.
With more than 70 artists connected to the UIS, the biennial brings together different generations of artists in five cultural spaces across Bucaramanga. Instead of presenting one defined vision of contemporary art, LA BEBA creates a space where different experiences, techniques, and perspectives can coexist.
At the Centro Colombo Americano, visitors can find a selection of works that invite us to think about the relationship between objects, memory, and everyday life. The exhibition brings together pieces made with materials that carry their own histories and associations, creating connections that are not always immediately obvious.
This is part of what makes the exhibition interesting: there isn’t necessarily one story connecting every piece. Instead, each work offers a starting point. A familiar object can become something unexpected. A material can remind us of a place or a moment. A simple change in perspective can reveal a detail we hadn’t noticed before.
It also reflects something important about artistic practice after university. Leaving art school doesn’t mean leaving behind the conversations, questions, and experiments that began there. Artists continue to develop their voices through the materials they choose, the places they inhabit, and the experiences they encounter along the way.
In that sense, LA BEBA is as much about the present as it is about the past. It celebrates the connection between artists who share an educational background while showing just how differently those paths can develop.
And because the biennial unfolds across Bucaramanga, experiencing it also means experiencing the city differently — moving between spaces, encountering new work, and discovering the artistic practices that are being developed here in Santander!
LA BEBA 2026 is an invitation to do exactly that: slow down, look closer, and make room for new perspectives.
If you’re at the Centro Colombo Americano, stop by the Art Gallery and see where these artists are taking their work next.  
JULY 2026

Framing liberty: Why Art is the True Archive of Freedom

When national anniversaries like the U.S. Semiquincentennial approach, we usually look at official timelines. Platforms like Freedom 250 do a great job of remembering key historical events. But while documents give us the facts, art gives us the cultural reality.

From Battles to Individual Rights

In the early days of the United States, art was a tool to build a national identity. Paintings focused on military victories and grand leaders. Freedom was celebrated as a collective political achievement.

Over time, this narrative shifted. Modern and contemporary artists moved away from static portraits of elite figures. Through abstract art, public sculptures, and street murals, creators began exploring personal autonomy, civil rights, and diverse cultural identities.



Art in the Public Sphere

The biggest change is where art lives. Early art belonged to exclusive galleries. Today, contemporary art lives on the streets. When art enters the public space, it becomes democratic. It allows communities to interact with their own history and see their experiences reflected on city walls.

National initiatives show us where we come from, but art shows us how our values continue to evolve. Freedom is not a static word from the past—it is a continuous conversation that artists are still writing today.


Changing the Narrative: Why the "Founding Mothers" Matter Today 


When we look back at the birth of the United States, traditional history textbooks often direct our attention to a specific group of men in Philadelphia drafting documents. While their contributions are undeniable, a closer look at the late 18th century reveals a much larger, more diverse tapestry of revolutionaries. The victory of the American Revolution did not just happen in political halls; it happened in communities, households, and camps heavily sustained by women.

Beyond the battlefield actions of soldiers, thousands of women formed the backbone of the resistance through economic warfare. Long before the first shots were fired, women organized widespread boycotts of British goods. As the primary consumers in colonial households, their refusal to buy British tea, cloth, and luxury items dealt a massive financial blow to the Crown. They spun their own fabrics and found local alternatives to imported goods, proving that patriotism could be practiced at the dinner table and in daily choices.

Furthermore, the war forced women into complex roles of management and intelligence. With men away at war, women took over the management of farms, businesses, and local economies—sectors they were traditionally excluded from. Others operated as highly effective spies, using the societal expectation that women were "apolitical" to their advantage. They smuggled coded messages in buttonholes, tracked British troop movements, and gathered vital intelligence that saved continental regiments from ambush.



Recognizing these women is not just about adding names to a historic list; it is about understanding that independence was a collective, societal effort. Their legacy reminds us that true leadership and courage manifest in many forms—whether through economic resistance, strategic writing, or community resilience. By studying the Founding Mothers, we gain a richer, more accurate understanding of history that continues to inspire modern movements for equality and representation worldwide.


The Road to American Independence: 250 Years Later


In 2026, the United States marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a milestone known as Freedom 250. Beyond the commemorations, the anniversary also offered an opportunity to revisit the historical events that led to the founding of a new nation.

The story of American independence did not begin with a single document. It unfolded through a series of political decisions, military conflicts, and social changes that gradually reshaped the relationship between the thirteen British colonies and the Crown. From the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, each event marked a turning point in a much longer process.

Although the Revolution continued for several years after the Declaration was signed, these early moments remain central to understanding how ideas about self-government, representation, and political identity developed during the eighteenth century.



Anniversaries like Freedom 250 are not only occasions to celebrate history—they also invite us to revisit primary events, explore the people behind them, and consider how historical narratives continue to influence the way nations understand their past.

Whether viewed through documents, artwork, or historical accounts, the American Revolution remains a significant chapter in world history and an enduring subject of study, discussion, and reflection.

 
JUNE 2026 

What does freedom look like?

What does freedom look like? Not as a slogan. Not as a political position. Not as a single moment frozen in history.

Freedom is one of the most enduring ideas humanity has ever explored, yet it remains one of the hardest to define. Every generation inherits it, questions it, reshapes it, and gives it new meaning. Artists have wrestled with this challenge for centuries. How do you represent something that cannot be touched, measured, or fully explained?

In 1830, Eugène Delacroix offered one of history's most iconic answers with Liberty Leading the People. Rather than portraying freedom as a law, a speech, or a government, he transformed it into a symbol—a figure moving forward through uncertainty, inspiring others to follow.

The painting wasn't simply about a historical event. It was about an idea. An idea powerful enough to inspire movements, shape societies, and spark conversations that continue long after the moment itself has passed.



Today, the question remains just as relevant. What does freedom mean in a world connected by technology, shaped by culture, and influenced by countless perspectives? For some, freedom is the ability to express themselves authentically. For others, it's access to opportunity, education, creativity, participation, or the power to choose their own path. There is no single answer. And perhaps that's the point.

As conversations surrounding North America's 250th anniversary continue to emerge, we believe the most interesting discussions aren't about defining freedom for everyone—they're about exploring how different people experience it.

Throughout the coming months, Creative Take will explore that question through art, culture, history, and ideas. Because freedom is more than a milestone. It's a living concept, and a question worth asking specially today.

What does freedom mean to you?


Why Museums Still Matter

We spend much of our day surrounded by information, images, and content designed to capture our attention instantly. Yet museums offer a completely different experience—one that encourages curiosity, reflection, and deeper engagement.
These institutions do more than display artworks and historical objects. They create opportunities to connect with ideas, perspectives, and stories from different periods and cultures. By preserving and sharing these experiences, museums help us better understand both our collective past and the world we live in today.


At a time when speed often defines how we consume information, museums provide a valuable reminder of the importance of observation, learning, and thoughtful exploration. They remain places where culture is preserved, questions are sparked, and meaningful connections can be made across generations.

The Horse Fair

Why The Horse Fair Still Feels So Modern?

When we think about groundbreaking art, we often imagine artists breaking rules or reinventing entire styles.

Rosa Bonheur did something different. She made people look more closely at reality. Painted in the 1850s, The Horse Fair captures a busy horse market in Paris, where powerful animals move through the crowd with an energy that still feels striking today.

What makes the painting so compelling isn't just its impressive size. It's the sense of movement. The horses pull, turn, resist, and surge forward. Nothing feels posed. Nothing feels still.


Bonheur achieved this through years of careful observation. She studied animal anatomy and behavior with remarkable dedication, creating work that feels less like a staged scene and more like a living moment.

More than 170 years later, that authenticity continues to resonate.

The painting doesn't simply show horses. It captures motion, tension, and the unpredictable nature of life itself.

There's also something inspiring about Bonheur's approach. She pursued her artistic vision with unusual determination, choosing observation over convention and curiosity over expectation.

Perhaps that's why The Horse Fair remains so captivating. Not because it belongs to another era. But because it still feels alive.


MAY 2026 

Balance


Balance (1989) presents a simple situation that quickly becomes complex: five figures share a single platform suspended in the void, where every individual movement inevitably affects the whole. In this confined space, coexistence becomes a constant tension between cooperation and desire.

Through stop-motion animation, the film builds its world with striking simplicity. The restrained design and precise movements of the figures amplify the sense of fragility, making every gesture feel deliberate and loaded with meaning. This simplicity is key to its impact: there is nothing to distract from the dynamics of balance and disruption.



Balance (1989)
Directed by Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein
Five figures. One platform. One object. 
And the collapse of equilibrium.


An Interactive Art Experience.


Can an exhibition exist without the people who inhabit it? In Habitar la Sala, the artwork is not waiting to be observed. It memerges through the participation of those who enter, choose to engage, contribute, build, and move through a collectively created landscape. Here, every action matters, and every visitor helps shape the experience.

Discover an artistic proposal where participation, encounter, and shared creation transform the way we relate to art.

Watch the video and discover how a room becomes a living artwork shaped by everyone who enters, participates, and contributes.



Discover Habitar la Sala, an interactive art exhibition at the Centro Colombo Americano Bucaramanga as part of Salas Abiertas- VisitArte 2026!

Explore how the audience becomes part of the artwork through engagement, collaboration, and collective creation!


 A Creative Take on Bogotá’s International Book Fair!


The Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo) is understood here not only as a literary event, but as a space where the book becomes a meeting point between publishers, readers, artists, students, and academics. In this edition, the guest country further expands this dialogue, opening new perspectives on reading and cultural exchange.

Through these intersections, a connection is activated between different voices and territories, where reading becomes a bridge to explore multiple relevant topics from diverse perspectives.

In this context, the book is no longer just an object of reading, but a mediator of dialogue, memory, and shared thought.



Our Creative Take on FILBo 2026 explores how the Bogotá International Book Fair became more than a literary event — a space for dialogue, memory, and cultural exchange.


APRIL 2026

Extra! Extra! The Origins of Colombian Comics!

The exhibition Extra Extra. The Origins of Colombian Comics, presented at the National Library of Colombia, offers a perspective on comics not only as entertainment, but as a visual archive of the country’s history. Through research that traces their origins from the late 19th century to the 1960s, the exhibition reveals how this medium was primarily circulated through newspapers.

Along this journey, comics emerge as a tool to approach everyday life, political perspectives, and the popular culture of their time. Rather than simply telling fictional stories, these images construct a way of reading reality and activating collective memory.

From this perspective, comics are recognized as cultural heritage, allowing us to understand how a country has also narrated itself through images.



¿What if comics weren’t just stories… but history?
This week, Creative Take explores Extra Extra, an exhibition inspired by the research of the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia, tracing over 70 years of Colombian comic history—from newspapers to cultural memory.
A journey through forgotten archives, iconic characters, and the evolution of a visual language that helped shape how a country sees itself!


Salpicón, an anthology of minimal comics!

Salpicón is a minimalist comics anthology published by Palm Press that brings together the work of fourteen Colombian artists exploring the possibilities of storytelling without words. Recognized by Casa Macondo as one of the best books of 2025, this project belongs to a branch of comics defined by its apparent visual simplicity and the absence of written text.

Far from being a limitation, this absence opens up space to construct narratives, ideas, or even poems solely through images. In this exercise, minimalist comics become an exploration of visual language in its most essential form.



A fresh look at Colombian minimalist comics Salpicón, published by Palm Press, brings together 14 artists exploring storytelling without words!


 
What if making art isn't about expressing…but noticing?

What happens when we understand artistic creation as an act of observation? Beyond the need to express an idea or communicate a message, art can emerge from the attention we give to the world and our willingness to remain present with whatever unfolds.

In this process, doubt does not necessarily represent an obstacle, but rather a natural part of the search. Both The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin, and The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, propose different ways of inhabiting that uncertainty: continuing to observe, returning to creative work, and remaining receptive even when the answers are not yet clear.



Creating also involves making choices. Among everything we observe, we decide what to follow, what to develop, and what to leave behind. Rather than pursuing a perfect idea, artistic practice becomes an exercise in presence, curiosity, and constant decision-making, where paying attention can be just as important as the work that ultimately takes shape.

Art isn’t about forcing ideas. It’s about paying attention. Stay open, keep showing up, and let things take shape! 

Have you read the books we mentioned? What do you think?


MARCH 2026

What is art?

What do we mean when we talk about art? Rather than a fixed or universal category, art can be understood as a way in which people have sought to understand and represent the world throughout time. Every artwork emerges from a particular context and carries with it the questions, values, and imaginaries of the era in which it was created.

As Ernst Gombrich noted, “There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists.” This idea invites us to look at artworks not as isolated objects, but as expressions of people who observe, interpret, and respond to the world they inhabit. Within them, we find traces of ways of thinking, feeling, and imagining that are also part of history.



What you see… is never just what you see…

It’s shaped by how you’ve learned to look, and by the moment you’re looking in. As Gombrich suggested, we don’t see innocently. We see through habits, expectations, and context. 

Art isn’t separate from the world it comes from. It’s part of it —shaped by the same forces that shape how we see. So every image carries a point of view. Not just what it shows— but how it asks to be seen…

All visual references in this video are public domain works, free to use and distribute. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons. 


Esteban Mantilla at the Art Gallery of the CCAB

What happens when a portrait refuses to stay the same?

In this episode of Creative Take, we explore Retratos, the exhibition by Esteban Mantilla at the Art Gallery of the Centro Colombo Americano Bucaramanga. Through layered images, fragmented faces, and symbolic elements, Mantilla expands the idea of portraiture beyond the traditional frame.

During the opening night, the artist painted live, allowing the audience to witness the transformation of the image in real time. Animals, symbols, and shifting identities collide on the canvas, creating portraits that resist fixed definitions and invite viewers into a visual journey.

Watch the full video and discover this exhibition at the CCAB Art Gallery.

Retratos is on view through March 20, 2026.

Free admission.

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes of Creative Take, where art meets conversation.


Creative Take, a new digital segment by the CCAB.

Every cultural project is also a conversation built over time. This first episode recognizes the people who have helped make the Colombo Americano of Bucaramanga a meeting place for art, literature, music, and other cultural expressions. At the same time, it marks the beginning of a new chapter that will continue to strengthen these initiatives and expand the possibilities for dialogue among artists, audiences, and the community.



Introducing Creative Take, a new digital segment by the Colombo Americano of Bucaramanga, where we explore and discuss ideas, creativity, and cultural perspectives from our community and the world!

This first edition also honors the work of Elena Arenas de Ortiz, who has just concluded her time as Cultural Director at the CCAB. Her dedication and vision have left a lasting impact on our cultural programs! 



Attention

Something new is coming.


Creative Take is a new digital segment by the Centro Colombo Americano of Bucaramanga where art, culture, books, film, and ideas come together in English.

From local exhibitions to cultural conversations from around the world, each episode opens a new perspective on creativity.

Join us and discover a new way to experience art and culture.

#CCAB #CreativeTake #ArtAndCulture

 

Something new is coming. Art. Culture. Another voice — in English. Creative Take Coming soon














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