“Lugar: A Project for Contemporary Creation / Un proyecto de creación contemporánea” is the handwritten (in Spanish) proposal that was used to create Lugar a dudas [Room for Doubt], an independent space (in the city of Cali) that promotes and presents contemporary art. The group’s task force presented this document in 2003 to provide an outline of the original ideas, the cultural and sociopolitical background of the city, the foundation objectives, and the action plans. The document includes photographs of the house taken by the photographer Fernell Franco, with several views of the space that help to understand the space in terms of the activities intended to promote local artists and the development of audiences. There is a list of names of the key people involved in the creation of Lugar a dudas: the task force, friends, advisors, and initial sponsors. The text was written by the artists Oscar Muñoz, Connie Gutiérrez, Carmenza Estrada, and the Argentine social communicator Judith Kuj.  It articulates the ideas contributed by theoreticians and local and foreign artists who provided support for Muñoz, the director of the group. Lugar a dudas was originally going to be called “Plan B,” and as explained in the document, considered two basic proposals for its first year of operation: the Trans/cita program and the group creative project CALCA Museum—Cali Contemporary Art Museum.

The document “Lugar: A Project for Contemporary Creation / Un proyecto de creación contemporánea” is the proposal used to create Lugar a dudas [Room for Doubt], a nonprofit independent space in the city of Cali devoted to promoting and exposing contemporary art. This manuscript is part of the private archive of Lugar a dudas. It should be read as a work in progress because it includes a variety of proposals and the different names considered for the space: “Lugar: Un proyecto para la creación contemporánea,” “Plan B,” and “Lugar a dudas.”  

The document has prompted a great deal of interest because it contains the main outlines developed by the task force led by the Colombian artist Oscar Muñoz (b. 1951). When the artist Carmenza Estrada (b. 1949), a member of the task force, could no longer perform her duties, Sally Mizrachi (b. 1958) took over as general coordinator, a position she holds to this day (2010). Mizrachi was involved in the project from the very beginning, providing resources for the program. From a legal standpoint, Lugar a dudas was originally formed as an association and then became a foundation. The document includes the plans of the current headquarters (a house in the Granada neighborhood, in northeastern Cali), and photographs taken by the photographer Fernell Franco (1942–2006), a friend of “Plan B.” The text outlines the proposals suggested by the group of administrators and artists who developed “Plan B” for Cali in 2003, based on new cultural alternatives that address the city’s endemic drug trafficking, violence, and urban flight. Those proposals are, to some extent, similar to the group’s current objectives and programs.

According to the document, the “Trans/cita” program sought to engage artists in a study of the city and then attempt to implement their proposals through a series of workshops, fora, and educational meetings. The other program mentioned in the document is “CALCA Museum—Cali Contemporary Art Museum,” which was intended as a space where copies of key works of art would be exhibited so that the general public in Cali might be exposed to works of that kind. Some of those goals were achieved three years later when Lugar a dudas created the exhibition “La vitrina” [The Showcase] for which works were copied for educational purposes.   

From the beginning, Lugar a dudas was inspired by the objectives of the Daros Latin America Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, the project’s sponsor, which encouraged debate between artists and intellectuals to stimulate a more horizontal approach to social problems. The Swiss foundation and Prince Claus of Holland financed some of the programs described in this document. The Lugar a dudas Foundation opened its doors to the public in April 2004, and in the six years since then has achieved a presence at national and international levels, especially among art communities in Latin America and Europe: Capacete (Brazil), Kiosko (Bolivia), El Basilisco (Argentina), Crac (Chile), Proyecto Batiscafo (Cuba), and Triangle Arts Trust (England).