In the document Ex-situ / In-situ. Moravia: prácticas artísticas en comunidad 1 (2008), the artists Fernando Escobar, Carlos Uribe and Juan Alberto Gaviria introduce the guidelines for the project Ex-situ / In-situ in Moravia. Regarding this project designed to take place in the working-class neighborhood of Medellín, the artists/writers also discuss the dynamics of the processes and spaces as well as the social themes of its curatorial program. Starting with a heterogeneous invitation to artists to develop creative processes with communities outside the art world, the writers propose an interdisciplinary scenario. What they envision is an exchange of knowledge in the context of the urban problems of the Moravia neighborhood. The proposal of Ex-situ / In-situ is based on tactical lines of meaning (urban imaginings and actions); that is why the project invites artists to form a relational bridge with hopes of influencing the cultural dynamics of the community.

This brochure documents the project Ex-situ / In-situ, an important curatorial approach for art practices and community processes in Colombia, since the artists were selected bearing in mind both the process and the poetic nature of the social artwork envisioned. From September through November 2008, the artists Fernando Escobar (b. 1973), Carlos Uribe (b. 1964) and the Colombian curator Juan Alberto Gaviria developed the curatorial project, Ex-situ / In-situ, for the Centro de Desarrollo Cultural Moravia (CDCM) in the city of Medellín. The work would be based on an understanding of the critical potential of contemporary art, and participants would bear its relational component in mind. Thus, Ex-situ / In-situ sought to create artistic contrivances related to identity, art training, collective memory, urban transformation, social networks, creation of new public spaces, and dialogues about knowledge. The participation of artists such as Liliana Angulo (b. 1974), Libia Posada (b. 1959), Graciela Duarte (b. 1958), Manuel Santana (b. 1960), Paulo Licona and Alejandro Araque, along with institutions such as Medellín City Hall and the Caja de Compensación Comfenalco, turned out to be significant. Working together, they made Ex-situ / In-situ an essential art project for understanding the connection between contemporary art and social development in Colombia in recent decades.