Culture

Remembering Totó La Momposina, the Voice of Colombia’s Caribbean Soul

When One Hundred Years of Solitude author Gabriel García Márquez accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm in 1982, Colombia arrived with him — not only in prose, but in rhythm, drumbeat and dance.…

RICHARD EMBLIN May 19, 2026

OSHORTS, the growing presence at Cannes is part of a long-term internationalization strategy. Photo: Black Velvet

BOGOSHORTS Expands Global Audience at Cannes With Latin American Short Films

The Bogotá Short Film Festival – BOGOSHORTS – is strengthening its international footprint at the 79th Cannes Film Festival with a major presence at the…

RICHARD EMBLIN May 13, 2026

In Mud We Trust: Ruby Rumié's volcano portraits are on display until June 27 at the Nohra Haime Gallery in New York. Photo: Ruby Rumié.

From Cartagena to Chelsea: Ruby Rumié Brings ¿How Are the Children? to New York

At Nohra Haime Gallery, in Manhattan’s white-walled Chelsea district, Cartagena-based artist Ruby Rumié is asking a deceptively simple question: How are the children? It is…

RICHARD EMBLIN May 6, 2026

Francis Alÿs at MAMU: A Global Portrait of Childhood Through Play

At a time when children are increasingly indoors – absorbed by screens, separated from the street and distanced from the spontaneous rituals of neighborhood play…

RICHARD EMBLIN April 29, 2026

ARTBO Weekend celebrates its 10th edition from April 16–19 with over 160 free activities across eight circuits in Bogotá.

ARTBO Weekend turns 10: Bogotá’s Art Circuits Come of Age

ARTBO Weekend returns to Bogotá this week with a milestone worth noting – and a programme that suggests the event is no longer content with…

RICHARD EMBLIN April 16, 2026

At Museo Santa Clara, visual artist David Felipe Escobar reactivates colonial angelic iconography through queer embodiment. Photo: Museo Santa Clara

Bogotá’s Museo Santa Clara opens provocative exhibition exploring queer spirituality and colonial memory

In the gilded stillness of one of Bogotá’s most striking colonial spaces, a new exhibition is quietly unsettling centuries-old certainties. Entonces llamó a un arcángel,…

RICHARD EMBLIN April 9, 2026

Marina Sánchez paints Bogotá’s Cerros in luminous colour at Museo del Chicó

In Bogotá, the mountains are never out of sight. They rise abruptly along the city’s eastern edge, forming a green wall that shapes the capital’s…

RICHARD EMBLIN March 2, 2026

Over 130 original paintings and sculptures by Colombia's Fernando Botero are on display in Singapore. Photo: Courtesy: Gardens by the Bay.

Fernando Botero Takes on Singapore with Landmark Exhibition

Singapore has never been shy about scale. But this season, the city’s appetite for monumentality takes on a distinctly Latin American accent. For the first…

RICHARD EMBLIN February 16, 2026

A pre-Columbian flute is one of many artifacts in the exhibition Colombia: En un aliento. Photo courtesy: Banco de la República.

Colombia in a Breath: Wind Instruments That Tell the Story of a Nation

Musical instruments are far more than tools for producing sound: they embody the cultural identity of a territory, carrying spiritual meanings, collective memory, and the…

RICHARD EMBLIN January 29, 2026

Beatriz González, one of Latin America’s most influential contemporary artists, died Jan. 9 at her home in Bogotá at 93. Photo: Hernán Díaz/Colección de Arte. Banco de la República.

Beatriz González: The Artist of Colombia’s Political Memory (1932-2026)

Beatriz González, one of Latin America’s most influential contemporary artists, whose boldly colored, deliberately unrefined paintings and installations confronted Colombia’s long history of political violence,…

RICHARD EMBLIN January 15, 2026

Stain on Hay: Should María Corina Machado Refuse the Literary Festival?

For a literary festival, silence can be more revealing than speech. The decision by three writers to withdraw from the 2026 Hay Festival in Cartagena…

RICHARD EMBLIN December 17, 2025

A Spanish Royalist flag of the Extremadura Batallion recovered by Republican troops. Photo: Richard Emblin

Colombia’s National Museum Marks 200 Years with “Inspire, Move, Convoke”

Two centuries after its founding in the turbulent aftermath of the Wars of Independence, the National Museum of Colombia is marking its bicentenary with one…

THE CITY PAPER STAFF December 12, 2025