{"id":4430,"date":"2020-03-31T13:53:07","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T13:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/?post_type=story&p=4430"},"modified":"2022-12-13T15:53:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T15:53:14","slug":"leonardo","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/en\/stories\/leonardo\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonardo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The story of Leonardo P\u00e1rraga Guti\u00e9rrez, \u201cartivist\u201d and human rights defender from Bogot\u00e1, Colombia<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Written by: Patrick van Wersch<\/a>
\nEdited by: Olivia Ayes\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He can scribble in his notebook for hours, erasing the sentences that don\u2019t work and replacing them with second, third, or fourth attempts at perfect flow. His poetry is about our connections with infinity, love, philosophy, and nature. This year he might finally publish some of his work instead of just sharing it among friends.<\/p>\n

His paintings are a different story. Like his poems they are about relationships, but more abstract\u2014about the interplay between shapes, lines, and colours. They show a different side of the way things seem to naturally go and force the observer to really immerse. One of his works lets people wonder: \u201cAm I looking at a sunset?\u201d No, it\u2019s merely an abstraction of one.<\/p>\n

L\u2018art pour l\u2019art<\/em>. The young Colombian insists this philosophy is also part of his work as a young but already influential social leader and human rights defender. He\u2019s found a way for art to be a stepping stone for social change\u2014because even small creative acts, like making a painting, will be translated to other places, maybe even your nation\u2019s Congress.<\/p>\n

Leonardo P\u00e1rraga Guti\u00e9rrez, 26, from Bogot\u00e1, a self-proclaimed \u201cartist working on social integration,\u201d has learned that when people create\u2014especially when they create together\u2014they become aware, empowered, and more engaged. And when they engage they will demand change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n \n

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Leonardo P\u00e1rraga Guti\u00e9rrez, 26, from Bogot\u00e1, a self-proclaimed \u201cartist working on social integration,\u201d inspired Justice and Peace when we met him in 2018 in The Hague during Hague Talks. Read his inspiring story!<\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Peace Building Conversations<\/p><\/div>\n

We are the \u201cFucha\u201d<\/h3>\n

One campaign that Leonardo says translated art into activism was the 2017 Arts Biennale in San Crist\u00f3bal district in Bogot\u00e1. His foundation BogotArt worked in partnership with local communities and organisations, such as the Colectiva Huertop\u00eda and Colectivo Arto Arte, to ward off the possibility of people being displaced<\/u><\/a>\u00a0because of planned urban development projects.<\/p>\n

The campaign allowed residents to co-create different artworks, including murals, songs, and art made from recycled materials. One mural reads in big bright letters: \u201cWe are the Fucha,\u201d referencing the river R\u00edo Fucha where, besides The Biennale, several campaigns were done, including the festival \u201cEl Cecilazo,\u201d and \u201cBarrios Vivos, Fucha Libre.\u201d Another drawing pointedly shows an excavator clearing away trees and bushes where high rise buildings would soon be erected. Leonardo says these joint projects put the message out there that this territory is inhabited by people that are united, organised, and clear on the kind of community they want to be.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Buoyed by the local support, the San Crist\u00f3bal residents went to Congress where organisations from their district presented their perspectives on the building initiatives. They were heard by the government entities involved and, in the end, were able to buy more time. Two years later, not a single building project has been realised.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want anything imposed on them,\u201d Leonardo sums up the general mood among the San Crist\u00f3bal communities. The seven neighbourhoods still organise events, such as classroom talks about environmental protection, concerts, and movie projections. \u201cThe impact of art at the community level, when done with intention, is that it integrates people,\u201d says the BogotArt director with a clarity and purpose uncommon for most twenty-six-year-olds. \u201cAnd it\u2019s an impact that can last,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Art as the great equaliser<\/h3>\n

The seed that grew into BogotArt sprouted from Leonardo\u2019s brain back in 2012. The then 20-year-old realised he didn\u2019t know his city very well. When a friend from Denmark visiting Bogot\u00e1 invited him to go on a hike to watch a waterfall he didn\u2019t know existed, he was happy to tag along. As they walked they passed by different murals depicting some of the species living on the mountain and scenes about taking care of nature. He found that those messages were reflected in the way people cared for this place. One man in particular made a lasting impression on Leonardo: Don Benedicto Galindo<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n