Puerto 2

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The art exhibition Cupino Bay - Swimming Around was held in the Bolivar Railway Station in the central square of the town of Puerto Colombia, in September 2011. The artists involved in this exhibition articulated their different experiences of the multiple sea ports that share a similar history, having once been major milestones in the development of the countries they served.

Working with Colombian dance curator Carlos Maria across the Atlantic Ocean from my studio in Margate, a town that for more than two centuries was a popular seaside resort and now going through a rethinking process by establishing a creative community built on the legacy of his painter J. M. W,we reflected upon our towns’ shared histories. Without nostalgia, we asked the question how would Puerto Colombia be had it not been for the local government’s decision in 1943, fifty years after the port’s inaugural ceremony accompanied by the music of the popular waltz "Over the Waves", to close the port by banning the trade through it to create incentives for today's vast port around the shore at Barranquilla.

To this end, we set up a small Tourist Office of the hypothetical Sociedad Portuaria de Puerto Colombia, SA to attend and report to the tourists on the advanced sea port facilities of two and a half million square meters, overlaid onto the town.

The exhibition was made possible with the support of the following:

Puerto Colombia Foundation

The Governor of the Atlantic

The mayor of Puerto Colombia

Aviatur

Caribbean University Corporation

Nabila House Hostel Yoga

Jorge Arabia

Art Experience Institute

eltiempoelespacioelespectador(a).

Gallery:

La Estacion Ferrocarril de Bolivar, Puerto Colombia