Bogotá, Colombia, December 3, 2018 – With an exhibition that explores the eagerness that Latin American countries had for a cultural independence and that united them closely in the awakening of the 20th century, FEMSA Collection visits Colombia again, this time in cooperation with Bank of the Republic’s Art Collection. Entitled “An art of its own: Convergences between Mexico and Colombia. FEMSA Collection – Bank of the Republic Art Collection”, the exhibition is held within the framework of the 15th anniversary of Coca-Cola FEMSA in Colombia, and illustrates some artistic trends, such as Muralism, whose influence spread throughout Latin America.
The exhibition consists of 90 works, 45 of which belong to the Mexican collection and 45 of which belong to the Colombian collection. The pieces are divided into five thematic areas: “he European experience; Toward an art of its own: man and the land; Oneiric and ironic: from surrealism to magical realism; Toward the abstraction of an own art; and A new figuration: the transgressed body.
“This splendid pictorial exhibition that exposes a wide panorama of parallel artistic manifestations, without a doubt strengthens the knowledge between our two countries, thus continuing the creation of new bonds that contribute to the enrichment of our sister cultures”, said Minister Juan Roberto González, Representative of the Embassy of Mexico in Colombia.
“Within the activities of the celebration of Mexico – Colombia’s dual year, it is a pleasure to share 45 representative pieces of Mexico, which belong to our collection, alongside pieces of a collection as representative and strong as the Art Collection of Bank of the Republic. Through this tour, it is possible to appreciate the works of great artists from both countries who sought to create their own art. We hope that the public of Bogota will participate in this extraordinary exhibition”, said Genaro Borrego Estrada, Director of Corporate Affairs at FEMSA.
“Coca-Cola FEMSA is celebrating fifteen years of operation in Colombia, during which it has demonstrated its commitment to the country and its economic, environmental and social development. Therefore, as we close the year of celebrations, as a sign of our gratitude to the Colombians, we have brought the FEMSA Collection so that the public can enjoy the artistic dialogue between Mexico and Colombia”, said Eduardo Pereyra, President of Coca-Cola FEMSA in Colombia.
The exhibition’s curatorship, carried out by Emma Cecilia García Krinsky and Christian Padilla Peñuela, shows how a dialogue is established between two countries and two collections in order to address the arrival of the vanguards in Mexico and Colombia, as well as the way in which artists from both nations meant for art to reflect a national identity and the manifestation of new currents that move away from nationalism through other pictorial languages. This exhibition includes pieces by Andrés de Santa María, Frida Kahlo, Débora Arango, Diego Rivera, Remedios Varo, Luis de Llanos, Dr. Atl (Gerardo Murillo), Leonora Carrington, Rufino Tamayo, Rómulo Rozo, Pedro Nel Gómez and Fernando Botero, to name a few.
“As is well known, Mexico took an early lead in the development of artistic and cultural expressions compared to other Latin American countries. The arrival of the Mexican Felipe Santiago Gutiérrez to Colombia in 1783, who would promote the founding of the first institution dedicated to the academic education of the arts, began a flow of cultural exchanges in which some prominent Colombians such as Rómulo Rozo, Leo Matiz or Gabriel García Márquez, among many others, would travel to Mexico to be nourished by the development of the different cultural manifestations, leaving important traces of his passage through the country. Thus, the plastic arts have not been the only meeting place between Mexico and Colombia, cinema and music have also allowed both cultures become richer continuously, giving unexpected turns for each country. Anyone who has had the opportunity to listen to a Colombian vallenato in the streets of Mexico or a ranchera at full volume in Colombian festivities knows this well.
The exhibition “An art of its own: Convergences between Mexico and Colombia. FEMSA Collection – Bank of the Republic Art Collection” is a reality thanks to the support of Coca-Cola FEMSA and Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, through the Mexican Embassy in Colombia, as well as the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development. The selection of works is exhibited at the Miguel Urrutia Art Museum in Bogotá, Colombia, from December 7, 2018 to February 18, 2019.
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company participating in the beverage industry with Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world; and in the beer industry, through its ownership of the second largest equity stake of Heineken, one of the worlds leading brewers with operations in over 70 countries. FEMSA participates in the retail sector with FEMSA Comercio, which operates various small-format chain stores including OXXO; a Fuels Division operating the OXXO GAS service stations chain; and a Health Division that includes pharmacies and related operations. In addition, through FEMSA Strategic Businesses, the company offers logistic services, point-of-sales cooling solutions and plastic solutions for FEMSA’s companies and external customers.
About Coca-Cola FEMSA
Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. is the largest franchise bottler in the world by sales volume. The company produces and distributes trademark beverages of The Coca-Cola Company, offering a wide portfolio of 169 brands to more than 396 million consumers daily. With over 100 thousand employees, the company markets and sells approximately 4 billion unit cases through 2.8 million points of sale a year. Operating 67 manufacturing plants and 363 distribution centers, Coca-Cola FEMSA is committed to generating economic, social, and environmental value for all of its stakeholders across the value chain. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index, Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, FTSE4Good Emerging Index, and the Mexican Stock Exchange’s IPC and Social Responsibility and Sustainability Indices, among others. Its operations encompass franchise territories in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Guatemala and, nationwide, in the Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Philippines. For more information, please visit www.coca-colafemsa.com.
About FEMSA Collection
FEMSA Collection was born in 1977 as part of the company’s commitment to the development of its employees, their families and their communities. Currently, it is recognized as one of the most important corporate collections internationally. It gathers more than 1200 works of Latin American art from the 20th and 21st centuries from different disciplines such as painting, sculpture, drawing, graphics, photography and installation. Its collection offers a journey that illustrates the evolution, plurality and richness of modern and contemporary art in Latin America with special emphasis on Mexican production. Through an active program of exhibitions, individual loans of works, publications and various activities, FEMSA shares its Collection with the most diverse communities in Mexico and abroad, thus fulfilling its objective of promoting the dissemination of culture and the promotion of artistic appreciation. FEMSA Collection is part of FEMSA Foundation, which generates positive impacts on people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability.