The exhibition Bubuia. Water as a Source of Imaginations and Desires, presented at the Medellín Museum of Modern Art, is a version of the first edition of the Bienal das Amazônias, held in 2023 in Belém, Pará, and is the first international tour after visiting six Brazilian cities. The Biennial was established with the objective of broadening the scope of contemporary art by challenging established power structures and embracing the diversity of voices emerging from the Amazonian regions.

Colombia, a country that is also home to part of the Amazon biome, further demonstrates the Biennial’s commitment to fostering connections with South American territories and facilitating exchange and dialogue concerning challenges, knowledge, and potentialities associated with the rainforest. Medellín’s selection as a destination is both strategically and symbolically significant, as it is an indisputably cultural center in the region. The presence of the Bienal das Amazônias at a museum such as MAMM, with its institutional relevance and openness to experimentation, aligns with many of the principles of the Bienal das Amazônias: decentralization, circulation, and access.

Both institutions would like to express their profound gratitude to the artists and other individuals, institutions, and companies that have made this exhibition possible. We reaffirm our commitment to making art dialogue with the territory and activating processes of listening and circulation. We celebrate the diversity of the Amazonias—in the plural—as a center of aesthetic, political, and cultural production.

Lívia Condurú
President of the Biennial of the Amazon

María Mercedes González
Director of MAMM

Learn more about the exhibition Bubuia. Waters as a source of imaginations and desires.