As one of the art capitals to watch, Bogotá’s creative pulse transcends private galleries, movie theatres and museums. Behind these traditional venues for showcasing local talent, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá) has made prompting the “creative industries” an integral part of its existence, especially during the last decade, when it set out to sponsor and help launch the now high-profile international art fair – artBO.
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In 2008, the CCB decided to strengthen its command of Bogotá’s “creative industries” by looking beyond the competitiveness of local talent in defined exhibition spaces, to the possibility of hosting business-friendly events, which could serve creative for networking.
The Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM) and the Bogotá Music Market (BOmm) are two separate events which have become fundamental in the business growth potential and empowerment of local cinematographers, directors, composers, and producers. This year, the Bogotá Audiovisual Market takes place July 14th-18th and has the United Kingdom as its honorary country.
With additional support by the country’s trade promotion agency Proexport, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Technology and Communications, the BAM looks to consolidate and develop the Colombian film industry with the third-largest movie making market in the world. One of the Objectives of BAM 2014 is to present Colombia as a safe, helpful and cost-effective location for filming. Proimágenes – the country’s film promotion entity – expects 28 full feature films to be finalized this year, with at least 17 reaching audiences in movie theatres.
Promoting the creative industures has not only been good for the city, but for the country as a whole. According to the The Global Innovation Index 2012, Colombia is ranked 20th among 141 nations which export creative services, and 4th in Latin America for film production. Colombia also ranks within the top 10 of developing nations in the export of its home-made video games. Bogotá is also the only Latin American city to be ranked by UNESCO as a ‘Creative City of Music’. The Bogotá Music Market (BOmm) takes place in mid-October and professional musicians and composers are being invited to submit their works through the Chamber for this two day, international event.
So beyond the duties foreigners may associate with the CCB – such as renewing one’s mercantile registry or getting guidance on how to start a business in Bogotá – the city’s official commercial protection entity is also a steadfast sponsor of all industries which fall into the arts category. By promoting local talent, the CCB is turning the Colombian capital into a truly global meeting place for all things creative.
