CULTURE

Colombia’s Native Americans had developed rich and varied cultures prior to the arrival of Spanish settlers in the 16th century. Several groups practiced agriculture and crafts, producing fine works in stone and precious metals such as gold. Their temples, statues, and pottery attest to the richness of their cultures, and Native American designs continue to influence folk arts such as sculpture, textiles, music, and dance. During the colonial period, Spanish settlers rapidly incorporated Native American civilization into the dominant Spanish culture.

The Spanish colonial government devoted less energy to developing New Granada, as Colombia was called, than it did to other parts of Latin America. Noble families generally did not settle in the area, so great palaces were not built. Since the Roman Catholic Church was the main source of wealth, churches, cathedrals, and religious paintings and statuary make up most of the colonial artistic legacy.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, romanticism took root in Latin American art and literature and became linked to the struggle for independence. Romanticism is characterized by a highly imaginative and subjective approach, emotional intensity, and a dreamlike or visionary quality. As the 19th century progressed, a national style of art began to flourish. Colombian literature flowered, and Bogotá became known as the Athens of America. In the early 21st century, the majority of Colombians had neither the means nor the time to cultivate fine arts, but Colombians still exhibit national pride in the country’s artistic and literary achievements.

A) Literature

Distinguished Colombian writers include 19th-century novelist Jorge Isaacs, who is best known for his romantic novel María (1867). José Asunción Silva, known for his fluid use of traditional and new verse forms as well as his melancholy and spirituality, was one of Latin America’s most important modernist poets. Colombia’s most distinguished contemporary author is novelist Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1982. In his most famous novel, Cien años de soledad (1967; One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1970), García Márquez popularized magic realism, combining meticulous descriptions of Colombia’s social and political realities with elements of fantasy.

B) Art and Architecture

Late medieval and Renaissance forms characterized the art and architecture of the colonial period. The styles that dominated during the 16th and 17th centuries were the plateresque, with its elaborate decoration suggestive of silver plate; mannerism, with its elongated spaces; and the baroque, with its curved lines, extravagant forms, and intricate ornamentation. The Cathedral of Tunja provides excellent examples of the plateresque style, while the church of San Ignacío in Bogotá exemplifies mannerism and the Palace of the Inquisition in Cartagena epitomizes the baroque.

A national style of painting developed in Colombia in the 19th century. In 1886 the National School of Fine Arts opened and trained future generations of artists. In the mid- to late 19th century, Alberto Urdaneta captured the romantic spirit, and Epifanio Garay was a skillful portraitist and history painter. During the 1930s and 1940s painting in Colombia reflected the influence of revolutionary political movements that exalted the masses and native peoples. Abstract art became important in Colombia around the mid-20th century. At the same time, two of Colombia’s best-known artists, Enrique Grau and Fernando Botero, created a new kind of figurative image—grotesque, funny, and rotund. The internationally famous Botero made political statements with his paintings of inflated priests and politicians. During the 1960s violence and social upheaval became themes of Colombian art, as illustrated by the works of Norman Mejía, Luciano Jaramillo, and Leonel Góngora.

C) Music and Dance

Colombia has a rich tradition of folk music and dance, most of which reveals African or Native American influences. The bambuco is the national dance, although salsa music and dance became immensely popular within Colombia beginning in the 1960s. In the area around Popayán, a city in southwestern Colombia along the Cauca River, a type of music called murga is played by groups of wandering street musicians using stringed instruments. The word chirimía refers to a kind of flute and to musical groups that use this instrument to perform pieces with a strong Native American influence. Colombia has a National Symphony Orchestra and a National Conservatory in Bogotá.

D) Libraries and Museums

The National Library in Bogotá (1777) contains about 800,000 volumes; it also administers town and village libraries throughout the country. The leading museums are located in Bogotá. The National Museum contains collections relating to the Spanish conquest and the colonial period. The National Archaeological Museum exhibits utensils, stone carvings, textiles, gold works, and other materials found at sites throughout the country. The famous Gold Museum features a noted collection of pre-Columbian gold objects.

See also Latin American Architecture; Latin American Literature; Latin American Music; Latin American Painting; Latin American Sculpture; Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture.