Visual artist Mariëlle Videler was selected for a work period at FLORA ars+natura in Bogotá, Colombia. FLORA is a space for contemporary art that specializes in the relationship between art and nature and hosts one of the permanent foreign guest studios of the Dutch Mondriaan Fund. With this blog Mariëlle Videler shared her experiences and work process.
Videler stayed a year in Bogotá. Her work time was devoted to the study of the cultures of the first peoples of Colombia and the way in which knowledge is transferred in / through these cultures. By doing this research, from the urban area of Bogotá, Videler wanted to connect two worlds: the world of city dwellers living in an extractive economy, detached from the sources of nature, and the world of the indigenous people, for whom nature is part of a spiritual world.

Artist Mariëlle Videler (NL, 1970) works across media, creating installations, drawings, objects, videos and performances. Based on the belief that all organisms have equal value, she creates a pathway through the textures of the world. She explores a new, intensive way of feeling, perceiving and acting. Videler is in search of an aesthetic contesting the dominant modalities of our culture. In this creative process, she is profoundly influenced by the ritual and visual culture of indigenous people. These populations survive, knowing that everything – plants, animals, humans and other life forms – is connected and interdependent. What if art can make these two worlds meet; challenging the public with small interventions and new insights?

The Good, The Bad and The Seeds is supported by the Mondriaan Fund.