The art exhibit explores national ties and identity.

Barrio Amón is known for its old-world architecture, downtown charm, and plethora of art galleries that dot its streets. In fact, this small neighborhood is likely one of San José’s most cultured, offering a bit of everything in a small, convenient-to-downtown package.

For art lovers, Barrio Amón is a favorite hangout, offering small galleries that range from classical to contemporary. Often provoking conversation, the galleries host exhibitions that tease your brain and encourage thought, the latest offering being Manuela Ribadeneira’s De la Patria por nuestra voluntad (Of the Native Country by our own will), at the TEOR/éTica cultural center.

Ribadeneira’s art exhibition opens discussion about the importance of a country’s boundaries for the human beings that live both within and outside of its borders. How are we all affected by foreign policy, border disputes, xenophobia, national identity, power strategies, false patriotism, and all those other political moves that affect our lives? How do politics blur the line between an individual’s beliefs, versus those of his government?

Though Ribadeneira is from Ecuador, three of the show’s 10 pieces have been customized exclusively for exhibition in Costa Rica. She says, “My word is based on the idea of the line, those lines that are used to demarcate, to draw limits. I’m interested in analyzing the historic and personal rituals that indicate the possession of territory.” Even with these thoughts in mind, her art goes much further than the political, and explores the idea of property and territory from all angles, including commercial, religious, ethnic, cultural, and social.

Nowhere in her exhibition does Ribadaneira provide answers, preferring to leave all interpretations to the individual. She knows that the art will be personal for everyone, mostly evoking thoughts of border conflicts between neighboring nations, both domestic and foreign. Certainly, in today’s world, the nightly news will always be the perfect indication of the problems that individuals, governments, and religions often have over the idea of personal property or territory.

Closer to home, of course, is the ongoing dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the navigation of the San Juan River. Highly contentious, the conflict has already inspired a play (Acta de Canje, or Act of Exchange/Barter), which attacks the issue from a metaphorical standpoint, showing a shattered document held between two tongs – an adequate representation of a very delicate situation.

Ribadeneira’s De la Patria por nuestra voluntad is a thought-provoking exhibition that will encourage reflection and observation. Its name is taken from a line of the Annexation of Guanacaste Hymn, another historic political boundary dispute between the two neighboring countries. “It was very interesting to me that part of Costa Rica’s current territory is part of this country of its own will, and not through some random destiny,” the artist said.

If you’re in the Barrio Amón area, check out the exhibition, which blends art with politics, a feat rarely achieved in such a creative an enjoyable way. TERO/éTica is located on the corner just 400 meters north of Parque Morazán. The owner also has several other art installations on the surrounding corners that are worth a look as well.

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Filed under: Cultural Events on June 4th, 2008