Creative Projects Laboratory for migrant artists from the global south:

Tools for life with Maria Elisa Gómez

No one prepares us for the moment when our identity as artists intersects with a new identity as migrants, a collision from which emerges a web of interdependencies, challenges and contradictions for which there is no manual. A collision from which emerges a web of interdependencies, challenges and contradictions for which there is no manual. How to prioritise our artistic practice when we have to survive? How to materialise our projects when we are drowning in a tide of bureaucracy? How to find alternative modes of survival that allow us to nourish our creative practice? How to create networks of mutual support and permeate already existing networks?

In this three-session workshop-laboratory, Colombian multidisciplinary visual artist and creative artist Maria Elisa Gómez shares practical creative project management tools and useful resources to nurture and sustain our artistic practice as migrant artists from the Global South.

programme

Session 1: Self-narrative and migratory process

Tuesday 5 November from 6pm to 8pm

We will discuss the challenges and difficulties associated with migration and the impact they have on our personal trajectory and artistic practice, and then collectively generate a series of strategies to facilitate this transition process.

We will delve into the concept of self-narrative and the creation of avatars to write autobiographical texts and enhance our artistic work and employment possibilities.

Session 2: Internal and external management structure and tools

Wednesday 6 November from 6pm to 8pm

We will explore the importance of structure within the creative process and learn about different methods and systems for organising, planning and managing projects along with holistic internal management tools to avoid dying trying.

Session 3: Project Incubator

Thursday 7 November from 18h to 20h

Throughout the sessions, participants will have the opportunity to put these tools and resources into practice individually and collectively, ending with an incubator session in which we will work on new or existing projects to develop a work plan, clear up doubts and devise strategies to materialise and enhance our ideas.

*For a better work process, participants are asked to commit to attend all three sessions.

bio

Maria Elisa Gómez (1982) is a multidisciplinary artist born in Leticia, Amazonas, and based between Barcelona and Bogotá. Her work investigates the resonances of the colonial process in contemporary phenomena such as migration, extractivism, North-South power relations, construction of subaltern identities and expressions of collective resistance, using the archetype of the colonial explorer to create speculative narratives through painting, textile art, drawing, photography, video and community practices. She is also a producer, researcher, translator, educator, creative mentor and life explorer, and identifies as a migrant and neurodivergent. She is interested in the creative process and the acquisition of tools for the emotional and practical management of projects and life stages and since 2022 she offers workshops and individual accompaniment of processes for artists and creatives with a holistic, feminist and anti-capitalist approach.

This activity coordinated by Tau Luna Acosta and Juan David Galindo is part of Trenza, which proposes to generate alliances with collectives, projects and people in the territory who have a long history of work by, with and for the southern migrant community in Barcelona. Based on the idea that art workers are political agents within the city and that in order to open La Escocesa to a specific community, it must be part of the cultural and political fabric of the city beyond the specificity of contemporary art. 

Activity supported by PAAC.

The project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

If you have any needs or questions regarding the accessibility of this activity, please, visit the page "access La Escocesa" by clicking here