FEDERICA ZAMBELETTI / KOOZ Let’s start with your practice and in particular, its entanglement with marginalised groups. How do you approach art as a means through which to give voice to others?

DANIEL OTERO TORRESThroughout the course of my life, the awareness of our relationships as individuals with others has always been important and discussed within my circle. I’ve always thought that our behaviours and interactions influence our mindsets as individuals and that of others; therefore, our societies. Having grown up in a big, complex city like Bogotá and now living in Paris, you tend to realise that interconnectedness with others is unavoidable and omnipresent. These major cities (without disregarding the countryside) are marked by inequalities. The intricate relationships of their citizens are shaped by social injustices established centuries ago. This is why I feel that once we have acknowledged the importance of these relationships in daily life and are aware of our positioning, it becomes fundamental to give voice to others, to echo it and make it visible through our own voice.

KOOZSpecifically, Aguacero (2024) evokes the stilt architecture of the Embera community, who live on the banks of Colombia’s Atrato River; these structures are designed to collect rainwater and provide residents with unpolluted water. What are the specific challenges that the Embera community faces?

DOT Aguacero refers not only to the vernacular stilt architecture of the Embera community, but also represents a large part of the Afro-Colombian population that lives on the banks of the Atrato River in the city of Quibdó, in the Chocó departmental region of Colombia. The majority of the houses in this area — notably on the banks of the Atrato River — are built on stilts and are called palafitos. This specific manner of construction, where the entire structure rests on stilts, is designed to address the topological challenges of rising water levels, increased flooding, and other environmental challenges.

Many different communities live on the banks of this river, facing common challenges and difficulties.

One significant challenge is access to potable water, due to a combination of environmental and socio-economic factors. The region suffers from inadequate water treatment facilities and infrastructure; despite being in one of the most water-abundant regions, there is a scarcity of potable water. The main factors are pollution from illegal mining and deforestation, which exacerbate water contamination and lead to health issues. High poverty levels and historical marginalisation result in insufficient government investment in essential services.

KOOZ The Embera community is not alone; indeed the challenge of ensuring access to clean, drinkable water is faced by communities worldwide. What is the value of drawing attention to this challenge within a context like the Biennale or the city of Venice?

DOT I am currently based in Paris, but my work has always been influenced by sources from Latin America — especially Colombia — to which I have always maintained a close attachment. Someone once told me: our eyes never forget the light where we come from.

Through this personal geographical displacement, I started looking at things differently, finding similarities and common ground in diverse subjects within different times and spaces. This has become an important part of my work, as I conceive my practice as a bridge joining common realities within different geographical regions.

As I mentioned previously, the work of Aguacero not only refers to the Embera community but also highlights the challenges encountered by many inhabitants around the Atrato River. These types of constructions on stilts can also be found in various regions of the globe, such as Africa or Asia. Aguacero addresses a problem that occurs in Colombia but also speaks to the phenomenon of water scarcity on a global scale. When Adriano Pedrosa invited me to be part of the Biennale to create this specific installation, it seemed perfect to construct this type of traditional housing in Venice, a city constantly threatened by rising water levels and increased flooding.

KOOZAs with many of your works, Aguacero is made from locally collected and recycled materials. Are these assemblages themselves like acts of resistance to an exacerbated capitalistic structure?

DOT Two things come to mind when I read this question as acts of resistance. From my learning expedition Asentamientos, about informal housing, I took forward the following:

1. The importance of making do with what we have: The engineering of necessity.
2. One of the main processes of construction of different housings is the product of community support: minga — which translates as “you give me one hand and I will give you another.”

KOOZ Indeed since 2017, you have undertaken Asentamientos (Settlements), a research project based upon vernacular architecture of different regions of Colombia. How does this research explore informal housing as imagined and built by social minorities?

DOT One of the objectives of this research was to take a new look at these constructions as architectural works, adaptable according to different topographies and social realities. The project Aguacero emerged from my project Asentamientos. This socio-artistic research was focused on the processes of creation of informal habitats in different regions of Colombia. I established a plastic inventory of different constructions and their architectural elements, with a particular interest in their aesthetic and their interactions with the geographical environment.

During the process of the research I encountered the inhabitants of different types of housings who explained to me and taught me about their processes of construction. How did they organise and plan? Where did their knowledge of construction come from? What were their materials? How do they source them? These were some of the many questions established during our exchanges, which were always accompanied by images, drawings and photographs I made of their spaces.

This process of learning, through Asentamiento, highlighted to me the importance of a balance between ecosystem and habitation: how these “self-constructions” embody processes of social resistance, which reveal both great creative intuition and socio-cultural traditions. These homes show how an urban network is likely to be altered by individuals, creating new agglomerations and activating the sensitive and political dimensions of urban and rural existence.

KOOZIn particular, throughout your travels and research in Northwestern Colombia, you documented your experiences through a compelling series of photographs which have become the foundation for crafting a set of terracotta relief pieces. What informed this sculptural method?

DOT I've always been attracted to terracotta sculptures, particularly pre-Columbian examples from various ancient cultures of my native country. Whenever I travel, one of my first instincts is to visit the local archaeological museum. Even though we come from different geographical locations, if we look at our ancestors, we all had an object in common: the container or ceramic vase. From the Mughal Empire to the Hittite, Etruscan, Greek, Aztec to Inca or Muisca in Latin America, every culture shared this common form.

Since I realised this, and thanks in part to the different displacements I have encountered in my life, ceramics have become a very important element in my personal practice. In many different aspects, I feel that it has always been part of me. Even when I think about the colour of the city of Bogotá, its colour is orange — mainly due to the predominant use of bricks as the most common construction material.

Upon talking with the curator about showing part of the Asentamientos research, to contextualise the installation of Aguacero, it seemed natural to translate them from a two-dimensional image to sculpture. By doing so, I engraved them within matter through the use of ceramics, which gave birth to the series of bas-reliefs titled Donde Llueve y se Desborda (Where it rains and overflows).

KOOZ Your work is imbued with notions of resistance but also images of celebration, demonstration and reconciliation as drivers of social change. What is the power of art as activism? Where do you imagine your work taking you in the near and distant future?

DOT Art as activism has many different forms. For me, it has never been about using art solely as a tool of activism, but as a form of dialogue. It is about sharing and exchanging, providing individuals with the means to open doors to new perspectives and construct their personal points of view. It encompasses facts, senses, feelings and stories, among other elements. The construction, interpretation and experience of an artwork will vary based on the personal subjectivity of each individual.

Art in this context can serve as a tool to help us question ourselves, our relationships with others, and various aspects of our societies. Regarding the second question, I hope that my work will bring me closer to the people I love and cherish, and continue to open new perspectives.

Bio

Daniel Otero Torres was born in 1985, Bogotá, Colombia. His practice encompasses the creative facets of drawing, sculpture, installations, ceramic work, and pictorial practice, an approach the artist chose to tackle notions of resistance, revolution, and more. Nature and global politics must learn to dialogue through a language that does not necessarily coincide with that of capitalism, but instead begins from the spirit the artist captures by focusing on images of collective demonstrations and celebrations as drivers of change. His works have been exhibited in numerous international institutions and events such as the the 60th Venice Biennale (2024); Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, United States (2024); 16th Lyon Biennial (2022); Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2022); Kestner Gesellschaft”, Hanover, Germany (2022); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2021); Drawing Lab Paris (2021); MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco (2020) and many more.

Federica Zambeletti is the founder and managing director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and digital curator whose interests lie at the intersection between art, architecture and regenerative practices. In 2015 Federica founded KoozArch with the ambition of creating a space where to research, explore and discuss architecture beyond the limits of its built form. Parallel to her work at KoozArch, Federica is Architect at the architecture studio UNA and researcher at the non-profit agency for change UNLESS where she is project manager of the research "Antarctic Resolution". Federica is an Architectural Association School of Architecture in London alumni.