« Amparar » Means protecting

This work is an invitation to take care of the most disadvantaged children, to understand them, by providing them with an education. There is a great injustice to children throughout Colombia.

The armed conflict, in the countryside and in the urban area of Colombia, has been hard on children: recruitment, rape, dispossession of their land and family massacres; these are actions that continue, in a vicious circle. Children who survive grow up hanging out with them all this experience and if some may end up as leaders protecting their community, others, in the worst-case scenario, end up psychologically ill, or committed to delinquency.

How can we judge them when we have seen all that they have suffered? Nothing is justified. Their actions are the product of their past. We are talking about the future of a country like Colombia, which is decimated in life, education, culture and rights. – As an artist, I have had the opportunity to work with children and, in this experience, I have experienced different problems, such as child abuse, illiteracy, disease, abandonment and lack of knowledge of their rights; in the city of Cali and in the department of Cauca. All these factors prompted me to carry out several projects in favor of the defense of children’s rights, by realizing processes of resilience and encouraging them by other ways and alternatives of life, and especially through the arts. Thus, was born the work «Amparar 2-0-5».

This work, drawn in the techniques of graphite, charcoal and gold leaf on paper and canvas, testifies and represents the reality experienced by the majority of children in Colombia. Continued persecution and sexual violence by various armed groups, including the Colombian army. I represent these executioners and desecrators by covering them largely with gold leaf that I use to allude to spilled blood, which has as its goal power and ambition.

“Amparar 2-0-5”, contains 3 pieces, each with a number as title, in the form of a key, where the first piece is called – 2 -, the second – 0 – and the third – 5 -. Together they form 2-0-5, which is the number of one of the penal articles in Colombia, which deals with the offence of sexual abuse and physical violence against a person, whether minor or not. From the Colombian Penal Code:

{El Congreso de Colombia
DECRETA: Delitos contra la libertad, integridad y formación sexuales
CAPITULO I – De la violación
Artículo 1°. El artículo 205 del Código Penal (Ley 599 de 2000) quedará así:
“Artículo 205. Acceso carnal violento. El que realice acceso carnal con otra persona mediante violencia, incurrirá en prisión de doce (12) a veinte (20) años”.}

According to Colombian forensic pathology and for the period from January to May 2020 only, 6,479 children were examined for alleged sexual abuse offences. One of the most shocking and sad statistics is that 98% of these crimes go unpunished.