living in an area of 20 km around.

Every Wednesday there is a

movie function in the main room for children and adults that
arrive on foot or motorcycle.

To arrive into the SER one has to take the road via main cities like
Neiva or Florencia until San Vicente del Caguán, and then take an
all-terrain- truck through a dusty road until the SER. The only
paved roads are the ones that go through towns where oil
extraction is being performed. Usually, it takes me between 18
and 26 hours to arrive.
This project started in March 2018 and it was written during the
travels I have made throughout the country, with ideas and Inside the SER camp, electric power is turned on at 9 am and off
experiences fresh. The project intends to investigate several at 9 pm. Meals schedule is on military hours. Food is served in the
actions, exchanges, and experiences that, from a personal main dining room, usually with food prepared with local
perspective, extend towards collective learning dynamics trough ingredients since several resources promised by the government
artistic sensitization. My hypothesis state that forgiveness is after the peace agreement never arrived. The land is a wild
constituted as a reborn act from traces, cracks, ruins, and pain, territory far from any central city and surrounded by fertile lands
which is an autonomous rebuilding of one’s own identity through and jungle cumulus.
catharsis, from chaos. Then, Can forgiveness be a revolutionary
act due to its liberating, transforming and restructuring features? I arrived in this location looking for a place to perform my
personal process of forgiveness, and then I fund a community
attacked by territorial litigation and an identity crisis fused with
the tragedy of a hindered peace process. I have been working
with them, creating processes of collective creation through arts,
This research was executed thanks to and with the inhabitants
establishing close links with people and proposing encounters
and ex-soldiers of FARC in the SER Space for education and
(required by them) that permit the beginning of said
reintegration Urías Rondón in La Macarena, Meta, together with
reconciliation processes via sensitization experiences. It has been
indigenous from the Embera Chamí town hall and with the
imperative to travel to the territory for my research process
colleagues with whom I have worked in the field.
because these people have given me more than I could expect,
they have embraced my soul and gladly involved in the research.
The territorial conjuncture in which the SER its inserted its
They arrived like alluvium to a dry river.
noticeable due to the jurisdiction division that part obligations
between one and another department, Meta and Caquetá.
Likewise, the SER has been through the stages left by the Pace
agreement signed in 2016, after 50 years of armed conflict, with
implies the reorganization of FARC ex-soldiers (Armed
revolutionary forces of Colombia) in territories close to their
previous headquarters. This gap and nuance, this portal in which
the population coexists it’s a melting pot of historically
normalized interactions. Most of the civil population of the area
has close family relationships with ex-soldiers from FARC and
Embera Chamí Indigenous. Paya Rica, the closest town to the SER
has low health conditions which can be extremely dangerous in
extreme weather conditions, however, the possibility of having
medical assistance becomes bigger thanks to the SER.

Sister Sandra, a nun, has conformed a community drugstore with

shared space with the local bakery. The SER is a meeting point for
medical missions and education programs directed to people

I consider fundamental to approach the term Forgiveness without
misgiving, without the fear of the use given to the word and
denuding it from the burden that it beholds. In this research, it is
necessary to reconsider forgiveness to take it out of its vane
everyday use and start placing it as an action trigger from a
sensible act. Yes, forgiveness is a word with previous loads, but,
just like at the action of forgiving, one has to stop being afraid of
words and extreme conditions that these represent, to face them
and bear the possibility to transform them.
For this process, forgiveness is understood as a creative
possibility used to remake acts from the past, restoring and
rehabilitating the human capability of action Said phenomenon is
implemented trough the recognition of one’s and other people’s
freedom, being aware of the common patterns shared with other
humans, thus, forgiveness is manifested as an exercise of
restoring collective action.
Forgiveness is also a practical need that permits reconciliation
and the possibility of transformation against it, similarly, it’s
constituted as an act of resistance, of individual and collective
resilience that covers transforming magnitudes when linking up
in combination. It is an exercise of creative consciousness that
implies a voluntary movement towards specific circumstances.
“If we analyze forgiveness up-close we will see
that this is not grounded mainly on the
performed harm but more in an attitude of the
subject to overcome the reaction generated by
the harm” (Hidebbrand, 2014, pg. 94),
therefore it is, in essence, a phenomenon
mainly individual, that even though it can take
collective connotations, it always initiates from
an inner revolution inherent to unicity. “The
unicity in a person does not prevent forgiveness
but enhances it” (Crespo, 2004, pg. 84), since,
when recognizing its own unicity, can then be
recognized in others to manifest an inner
process of acceptance-based in deep empathy,
like the one I felt when I first entered the SER, it
was an everyday phenomenon carved in the
warm wood of our conversations
Forgiveness is an act that does not take place
anywhere, it is an inner phenomenon that does not exist in
everyday psychology (Jankélévitch, 1999) and consequently, it
has variable conditions evidenced in different ways: a common
factor of these manifestations is the strengthening of identity in
individuals. How they (the population of SER), me and all of us,
replace our scars with positive emotions shows an identity nature
since enunciates the importance of said events to the
constitution of our current being. We are al a bundle of good and
bad circumstances that confirm what we are. Observing passively
the value of said circumstances increases the possibilities of
making them enriching.
“Suffering, education and transformation, it is needed, not that
the students learn something, but that a transformation occurs
inside of them and makes them optimal to receive education The
experience of suffering and disgrace introduces the universe into
the body” (Weil, 1998, pg. 26),and when introducing it opens the
possibility to understand it and produce a transformation from it.
During this constants coming and going (in the physical and ideas
field) I have dissected next to my body every previous experience
that has brought me to this point: my father and revolution,
illness, how I fell in love for the first time with a place that does
not exist on the map, the jungle, that entangled me with its sage
and marked on my skin scars of new hope, of new questioning
regarding revolution, resistance. Form this point I started to
reconsider my role as an artist in this context and as an individual
in the world and if those two notions should be divided. As
consequence I obtained the need to create and spread this
process via artistic practices as material evidence of what I have
experienced, I acquired the need of absorbing the territory to
depict it in my language, proposing a new sensible road, the body.
Even though the concept of body is known as the ensemble of
organs and systems constituting the anatomy of a living being, in
this argumentation its vital to consider the term as a whole, as a
macrocosms and a universe in itself, that synchronously contain
and endless set of microcosms, small gaps limited and liked by
secret codes (Rossi, 2019, 16). The said notion has completely
penetrated my existence and it is constantly manifested in the
everyday codes depicted in my interactions with people. The
body and its constellations of affections are manifested in
rhizome or hives, but not as the conduction channels but more as
an inner sap that goes through the structural framework.
Moreover, the body is the rumor that moves between one and
another territory, it’s the hypersensitive connection between
serendipity and collectiveness: the body is not the system, is the
energy that makes said system function. The body is then the
inherent need of union between collectiveness and empathy: it is
a warm and viscous fluid that goes through us via word and
gesture; it’s the link that keeps my members together, and this
bogy together with other bodies, and our bodies linked to other
struggles and said struggles with other places. The body is the
fragments of action to converse in-between and the rest of the
universe.

There is an inner force that has driven and inspired me to travel

over and over to the SER, this force, according to the locals is the
Manigua. But, what is the Manigua? Etymologically speaking, the
term comes from “Taine Origin, an indigenous group from the
appeals to the vulnerabilities of human experience to transform
Arawak Family of the Mayor Antilles. With this term natives
it into inner phenomena, like a sorrow scream that is now a
designed the forest, the jungle However it was not the jungle in
singing voice. The Manigua is an invisible force that, from
a special sense, it was, for them, a habitat that gathered the
connective relationships generates a profound appropriation and
emanations of the people inhabiting it” (Peña Valencia, 2009, Pg.
empowering of earth. This fore is an act of resilience that resists
2).
the destructive ucome8political, social or environmental) as a
Additionally, the place is assigned to the Mambises, Cuban fever resists a disease.
guerrilla soldiers fighting for independence, revolutionary
soldiers that use the jungle as a refuge. (Clemente,
2008).Manigua is a universal term that Works in every magnitude
of the social spectrum, and t is similarly applicable because it
The term Manigua works also, semantically, as the inner fluid of Revolution is a creative process that takes elements from multiple
a root whose independent elements are connected to create a sources to transform them into something new that provides new
framework of specificities. A framework that reacts and outcomes.
intercommunicates against life the same way a cell does towards
Hence, just like creativity is inherent to humans, revolution it’s
an external treat. It is the phenomenon of pure resistance via
inherent also, being also adjacent to everyday existence, not only
rhizomatic symbiosis of everyday phenomena. Fever is to the
to epic episodes in the social body. Likewise, a fundamental
biological body what Manigua is to the social body resistance.
pattern in every definition of revolution is the establishment of
multiple terms that function in a combined and organic mode to
achieve said transformation, whether it is with individuals,
The concept of revolution has been over the centuries infused by entities, cells or ideas.
ideological loads, due to its multiple appearances trough social
transformations. Usually, because of its ideological features, it is
related to warmongering typical of political strikes. It was only
I have walked, trough words, into the liquid road where I have ad
after the two great revolutions of the XVIII century, the term
Deep fear, but that exists here, exposed due to its imperative
started to acquire such connotations, since before it used to be
need to be shared since under our current context it is necessary
associated with celestial universal movement recurrent in
to manifest courage and make visible the remaining
astronomic motion (Arendt, 2018).
transformations o resistance processes.
Nonetheless, this concept has connotations that allow any
The use of the word in this context not only manifests the place
transformation that approaches a paradigm change to be
of definition regarding voluntary identification but also, it has
considered revolutionary. A usual feature of the usage of the
become a resource through which we have established, them and
word its, also, a persistent notion that implies the destruction of
me, all, a working link as a liminal element (Rossi, 2011), which is
the presiding structure, then “ A revolution is something like
at the same time frontier and channel; an inhabitable space or
destroying an old building to construct a new one, and the new
interstice where we adapt to new communication forms. Is in the
building will not be erected on the grounds of the old one. Thus,
field of language where we found connections that, even if they
a revolutionary process has to destroy to be able to
break us apart due to our places of origin, can also unite us
construct.A revolution is a fight to the death
because of our need of interaction, and in that union, we all see
between the past and the future” (Castro, 1961).
the need to adapt to communicate fluently and establish
Thus, under this well-known speech, revolution closer relationships.
acquired implications of apocalyptic cleanliness that
Ever since my arrival at the SER, I memorized the names
supports the purification from the destruction of the
of everybody, but not their registered names, instead, their alias
previous context, a position that limits the possibilities of the
was chosen by them or suggested by higher authorities in the
term and enclosures it to lose conceptual resources that could be
guerrilla. These names commemorate revolutionary heroes and
useful.
people they love. They constitute their identity inside the guerrilla
Many social processes are conformed with revolutionary community and also protect their family from eventual
grounds, but they become effective when accepting the consequences for being who they are. Most of them prefer to be
hybridization of the old to infuse it with the new one of the many treated by their alias, a decision respected by the rest of the
examples of this is Latin-American which combines in a complex collective, this use is a living vestige of the revolutionary ideal, and
manner the modern and traditional features, international and it’s also a link with the collective that has been their home for
popular to mold a blend of rich features: more concrete examples most of their life
count the syncretism exercises of indigenous and afro
However, they cannot get rid of their civil name, nest to a new id
descendants and every cultural and ritual nuance that come from
number that immediately marks hem as guerrilla ex-soldiers. The
them.
conjuncture gap between one and another name depicts also the
distance between civil and combat life, and the reticence in taking
the civil name depicts the yearning towards the multiple
privileges they had when they were in the revolution: medical
assistance, education, cultural programs and partnership The scenery that corresponds to mi interpretations of my role as
amongst other elements lacking in civil Colombian life. an artist is the one of relational art (Bourriaud, 2009), inserted
inside the use of the Word interstice, to which Karl Marx referred
to as an alternative space to the everyday social dynamics. This
social interstice where processual interactions take nutritive
nuances beyond art pieces, it’s the one I intend to dive in
constantly, since art, and the need to create and research has as
the main goal to go through life itself and therefore the life of
others. How can an artist move someone else without moving
itself? It is not possible. Therefore, it is in the relational interstice
The act of deciding how wants to be called also declares what one where said phenomena take place with shining colors, because
is, what one wants to be. The constitution of their own identity they respond to our needed to approach other individuals in the
through words is an act of courage that wants to control the current sociocultural happening in which w coexist, to, at last,
course or our existence Regardless of the civil or guerrilla name it produce from the hybridization of collective knowledge.
is de decision itself that determines an act of identity definition. Previously I have manifested that my main resource in this
Tus, this collective is a melting pot of wills jointed to define one’s research is the interactions I have with the people I work with,
destiny and identity not only with words but also with the intrinsic with whom I execute a continuous process that feeds our
actions that it implies: keeping the name, having critical thinking,
working with and for the collective, resist. From the name and the
word, it is visible a notion of identity self-representative in the
current contest in which they are revealing these identities as the
result of social interaction processes inside the collective.
(Aceves, 1997)
Word as a liminal element -that unites from differences, an
inhabitable interstice of conjuncture- is them a portal through
which the unite and ant the same time fall apart from their
contest, redefining their identity that shifts between civil and
combat life, between the past and the resent. It is in this portal
where the act of voluntary identity starts and it is also our bond,
which complements us as a collective driven by common
interests.
Correspondingly, words were the ones that gave sensitive
features to the metaphor of water, an element that I encounter
frequently on my trips. When returning from one an e soldier told
me” Forgiveness is like being flooded in mud and suddenly getting
into a river and coming out clean”. There I knew that there will
always be frustrations, and there will always be something to
forgive and be forgiven, there will always be water, that water
that cleanses, that found me in the shape of jungle rain and river
and is still with me, making me free, making us all free of our pain
and riving new people to strengthen every new cycle.
existence, and this determines not only how I feel but also how
other local artists feel, getting tired of the unidirectionality of
artistic pieces, exhibited in a reckless and white endogamy.
The viewer is not a fool, before opening its hose it deserves to be
educated and take part in the creation processes, being an active
character of its history, treated like a human that is opening its
vulnerability to being juxtaposed with our sensibility and conform
a new stage of reality.
As a corollary, my artistic and field process with community
involves a series of dynamics that nurture said symbiotic
Exchange and that, starting from personal development,
comprehend the whole process. These dynamics workaround
pilgrimage and constant travels to THE SER, which enhances a
continuous and direct partnership, to establish effective
relational bonds that trespass life itself. These bonds allow me to
get deeply involved with the community in the research process
as well as in the construction of later results, thus making them
key actors in the decisions regarding how they will be resented.
These practices confirm the fact that it is imperative to speak up
for the ones that cannot do it through one’s inner process, but is
not a matter of altruism per se, it not about doing it for one or
the other, is about working for everybody and it is there where
the artist’s role coexists with the community: when
understanding that it is a symbiotic process that involves equally
every individual.
 Aluvión
El perdón como acto revolucionario
© Carmen María Caro González.
Can an affirmation manifest the act of forgiveness? Can words
execute a transformation? To answer that I would like to quote a 2019
Colombian Writer, Hector bad Faciolince. “The spell, f it works, is Full narration in spanish:
nothing but a sound, what heals is the air exhaled by words”, and https://www.academia.edu/40997291/Carmen_Caro-Aluvi%C3%B3n
with these words the implicit actions that come.
SHORT FILM: https://vimeo.com/375753037
Then, without wanting to manifest absolute truths, and based in
this process, that has gone through my body and life, to consider
these new notions of revolution as creativeness inherent to
humanity and forgiveness as a self- definition of individuality
having as ground physic and emotional scars. From my
perspective and experience, I can affirm that forgiveness has a
revolutionary feature since it is deeply transforming, and is also
renewing, creating individual and collective resistance processes.
What is left then? A methodology that has been applied, and as a
result, a public space installation that combines all the sensitive
elements gathered on the research: movement, word, water, and
rhizome.
I chose this media because of its possibilities to translate
perception experiences but also because of its possibilities to
involve the viewer.
During the process of execution of the piece, using wood frames
built on the SER with red clay collected from the land I notice that
my hands get tired and that clay takes a part of my skin, I notice
how the alluvium goes through my body on this process, as it has
gone through my life.
It is a participative installation that requires the voluntary
activation of the public, as in the act of forgiving This installation
is made of a systematic road of red clay, like the one I have been
stepping on the SER, with handwritten testimonies gathered in
these 2 years of research next to the affirmations of every
individual involved These statements (yo soy, I am) can only be
revealed with water, with rain or by the Discovery of the viewer.
Another result is a methodologically applicable experience to
other contexts and through other conceptual axes to use
forgiveness, from aesthetic experience, as a transforming
element that produces change. The variables are endless just as
the possibilities. This path I have gone through is only the
beginning of larger resistance processes, is the first flow of great
alluvium.