Memoirs of the Rio Negro Railway

 

The history of the railroad in Colombia was once intertwined with aspirations for progress, political conflicts, business interests, and technical challenges. This video installation, titled "Memories of the Río Negro Railroad," offers a visual and conceptual reflection on this history, using historical and contemporary images to explore these tensions and their repercussions today. Through modules that combine previously unseen photographs from the railroad archives with current images of the ruins, the installation invites viewers to immerse themselves in a dialogue between reflections of the past and shadows of the present.

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This video installation, which speaks to the poetics of reflection on memory and remembrance, was a participant in the 18th Regional Salon of Artists of the Central Region. Now, in this second edition, it seeks to expand by incorporating new elements that enhance its potential as a work of art and as a tool for historical reflection. The work comprises a selection of previously unpublished historical photographs, obtained from an archive in the Netherlands and provided by researcher Oswaldo Escobar Muriel. These images, along with contemporary videos of the ruins, generate a reflection on the passage of time, abandonment, and the traces left behind.