Voluspa Jarpa: Sindemia

The Julius Baer Art Prize for Latin American Female Artists, is a new biennial award initiated by Julius Baer and The Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá – MAMBO, whose mission is to honor the work of Latin American female artists for their innovations, researches, and influences in contemporary art. The prize is by invitation, open to every media, and without any age limit. 

The jury of the inaugural edition included Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Agustín Pérez Rubio, Barbara Staubli, and Eugenio Viola. The five jury members proposed an initial list of 22 artists from Latin America and the Caribbean. Among those preselected, five finalists were chosen and invited to present a project: Sandra Gamarra Heshiki (Peru, 1972), Voluspa Jarpa (Chile, 1971), Sandra Monterroso (Guatemala, 1974), Rosângela Rennó (Brazil, 1962), and Mariela Scafati (Argentina, 1973). 

The jury selected Voluspa Jarpa’s Sindemia as the winner of the first edition of the award. The artist will receive a cash prize of 25,000 USD to produce the exhibition, which will open at the Museum of Modern Art of Bogota - MAMBO, on July 8, 2021. 

For Sindemia, the artist analyzed the social riots that occurred from October 2019 to March 2020 in Chile, inviting collaborators to collect experiences and knowledge to think about this phenomenon of protest, resistance, and rebellion against systematic human rights violations, torture, sexual violence and other maltreatments. Sindemia is a timely project that focuses on the mechanisms of abuse conceived by an authoritarian regime against a national protest. “Voluspa Jarpa’s Sindemia faces sensitive issues related to the Chilean reality, marked by violence and severe police’s abuses, but also resonates with the current Colombian, and broader Latin American contexts that witness the same unacceptable circumstances,” describes Eugenio Viola, Chief Curator of MAMBO.

Voluspa Jarpa was part of Chile's artistic scene during the artistic renaissance of the 1990s after the military dictatorship. Her artistic research has always had a connection with issues of history, identity, and time. Working with the archive's materiality, Jarpa focuses her investigation on the forms of construction of the hegemonic regime, often concealing a brutal subjugation. 

"The project that I have presented is carried out from perplexity and anger, but above all, from a deep love towards the young adults who expose themselves and surge to make Latin America a better society. For them, my admiration, respect, and wishes that the dignity claimed will shape our near future", declared the artist.

The Julius Baer Art Prize for Latin American Female Artists is the first of its kind to be held in Latin America, and it highlights Julius Baer’s support towards cultural initiatives. "The Julius Baer Art Collection highlights our corporate culture and emphasizes our social responsibility by supporting artists. I am delighted that we extended our commitment to promote visual arts with the Julius Baer Prize for Latin American Female Artists," explains Barbara Staubli, Curator of the Julius Baer Art Collection.

Voluspa Jarpa. Rancagua, Chile, 1971. Currently lives in Santiago de Chile. 

Since 1994 she has maintained an extensive artistic production, participating in group and individual exhibitions both in Chile and abroad. She has exhibited in museums and art centers of Latin America and Europe as well as in international biennials such as the Havana Biennale (1996), Shanghai Biennale (2003 and 2018), Istanbul Biennale (2011), Mercosur Biennale (2011), Sao Paulo Biennale (2014), and the Venice Biennale (2019) where she represented Chile.

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