ART WITH STATUES WITHOUT A VISA

This is a work on illegal Latin American immigrants exhibited at the Biennial of Cuenca.
A video shows the life of these characters in Barcelona.
Diego Guerrero, Cultural Editor, EL TIEMPO (Newspaper)

Living statues standing on the famous Ramblas of Barcelona captured the attention of Juan Alonso & Nelly Barreto, two Colombian students of a Graduate Program in that city, and became the theme of their thesis, which afterwards was a selected work in the recent Biennial in Cuenca, Ecuador.

After a period of observation they decided to make a series of videos with interviews and photos on the life of these street silent artists, along the years 2003 and 2004. As a result, the artists were chosen to be a part of a group of 61 creators from 30 European and Latin American countries which were represented at this Biennial –which enjoys a well-deserved prestige in this region.

This specific Biennial was organized around three themes: “Poetics of Water”, “Glory does not forget Memories”, “Labyrinths of Reality”, and “Imaginaries on Cuenca”.

“The videos of human statues were made by about Latin Americans who live in Barcelona without legal documentation. One of them is from Ecuador and dresses as an Indian; the other three are a Colombian dressed as a cyclist, and two Mexicans performing Harlequin and Columbine”, explains Alonso. He and his work partner became themselves human statues both as a strategy to live the experience and also to earn some €uros.
It was during such experience when they discover, much to their surprise, that human statues earned a good income. “We were performing for a month as Adam and Eve, all covered with clay and leaves. It was a hard work but an amount of 50 to 70 €uros is made in a lapse of four hours. Some of the statues make up to 150 €uros on a day. They say that they feel well, there are their own bosses, and police does not bother them since they are considered a tourist attraction”, says Alonso. Of course, it must be taken into account that this is a spring work. “Only those who are in strong need work during the winter”.

Along with the videos they took pictures of tourists standing by the statues. Later they made replicates of 10 cmts (3,3 inches) in which statues and walkers by can be seen.
According to Alonso, it is likely that the exposition may be seen in places of Bogotá and Cali. At the Cuenca Biennial, Sebastian Pérez and Luisa Bohórquez participated also with a performance.

El tiempo Newspaper, Thursday December 8th, 2009