A sound installation in the museum courtyard
October 28 – January 28, 2023
Museo de Arte Universidad del Magdalena
Edificio Casa del Rio, Cra. 2 #17-24, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Kolumbien
Monday to Friday, 08:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 17:00
Saturday, 08:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 15:00
Opening: Thursday, 27.10.2022 at 19:00
Admission free!
The sound installation Sueños de rana / Frog Dreams by the Canadian/German sound artist Robin Minard is based on sound recordings he made in May 2022 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Minard was appointed Bonn City Sound Artist by the Beethoven Foundation in 2022 at the start of the international project “echoes – soundforum bonn” with the annual theme of biodiversity. In close cooperation with the Museum Koenig, the natural history and research museum in Bonn, and the Atelopus Foundation in Santa Marta, the artist traveled together with biologists from the University of Universidad del Magdalena on a biological research expedition to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of the Sierra Nevada.
While visiting the region he recorded not only the sounds of the rainforest – especially the great diversity of frogs that live in the area – but also interviewed anthropologists and biologists from the Universidad del Magdalena as well as indigenous spiritual leaders (Mamos). For the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada, frogs are associated with water, the source of life, and are therefore considered especially sacred animals. For generations, they have listened to the sounds of the frogs to determine, for example, when they should hold spiritual ceremonies or sow their seeds. They also understand the frogs as indicators of the state of our environment.
Minard’s sound installation Sueños de rana / Frog Dreams combines the sounds of the rainforest with the voices of Arhuaco Mamo Camilo Izquierdo, Wiwa Mamo Romualdo Gil, and Arhuaco elder María del Carmen Villafaña, who provided Spanish translations for Mamo Camilo Izquierdo (who speaks in his native Arhuaco language). The sound installation, embedded in the square of tropical trees and plants in the center of the museum’s courtyard, reflects indigenous concern for the survival of nature as well as our shared responsibility for its preservation.
With thanks to: Mamo Camilo Izquierdo, Mamo Romualdo Gil, María del Carmen Villafañe, Lucelly Torres Villafañe, Hans Valero, Alejandro José Suárez Forero, Luis Alberto Rueda Solano, José Luis Pérez-Gonzáles, Hernan Darío Martínez Urrea und Fundación Atelopus.
Production: Museo de Arte Universidad del Magdalena and Beethovenstiftung for art and culture Bonn
Curator and project management: Carsten Seiffarth
Assistance and technical support: Guillermo Lares
Photos: Robin Minard, Carsten Seiffarth
A project of Beethovenstiftung for art and culture Bonn in collaboration with: Museo de Arte Universidad del Magdalena