This interview is important for two reasons: it records the voice of Oscar Muñoz (b. 1951), the Colombian artist who started and managed Lugar a dudas [Room for Doubt] (an independent space for the promotion and exposure of contemporary art practices), and it was published in the first and only issue of Errata, the Lugar a dudas magazine. The publication listed his activities there from when the space opened in 2004 until January 2006.
In the magazine’s introduction, Roca mentions the institutional crisis prompted by the lack of spaces available for discussion and reflection on artistic practices, as well the socio-cultural depression in Cali caused by drug trafficking in the 1980s. The Lugar a dudas Foundation was created in April 2004 by Muñoz and his wife Sally Mizrachi as a group initiative supported by artists and city officials. This effort redefined the conventional model of alternative space because it initially operated as a meeting place designed to stimulate dialogue in the heart of a fragmented art community.
The magazine Errata was intended as a vehicle in which to publish the theoretical material that arose from the activities organized by Lugar a dudas. It was divided into sections, each one headlined with a question: “¿Con quién? [With Whom?], ¿Qué tiene? [So What?], ¿Qué pasa? [What’s Up?], and ¿Qué pasará? [What’s Going to Happen?].” This interview was published in the section “¿Con quién?” The final section of the magazine included comments from the group’s closest supporters: Colombian and Latin American art critics, academics, and artists. From the second semester of 2007 until now, Lugar a dudas has published facsimiles or folded sheets that can be compiled like a magazine and collected, such as Lugar a dudas No. 1 (July to December 2006) and Lugar a dudas No. 2 (January to December 2007).
In its five years of existence (2004-2009) Lugar a dudas has managed to increase the dialogue between cultural and academic institutions in Cali, such as the Museo de Arte Moderno la Tertulia [La Tertulia Modern Art Museum]; the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes [Departmental Institute of Fine Arts]; the Facultad de Artes de la Universidad del Valle [Art Faculty at the Universidad del Valle]; and the Instituto Popular de Cultura [People’s Cultural Institute].