Más Arte Más Acción (MAMA) is a Colombian non-profit organization founded in 2011 by visual artist Fernando Arias and cultural manager Jonathan Collin. MAMA is a platform for interdisciplinary art projects involving collaboration with communities in the Colombian Pacific. Currently led by Ana Garzón, MAMA is in a phase of transition towards collective governance, where Alejandra Rojas will be in charge of the legal representation, as well as the production of the organization’s participation at documenta Kassel in 2022.
The shift to collective governance represents the transformation of the organization’s processes over the years towards a more horizontal structure and with a stronger focus on the processes based in the Colombian Pacific. This region, with its predominantly Afro and indigenous communities, is among the country’s most heavily affected by the armed conflict. It is also one of the regions with the greatest biodiversity, which is now being threatened by environmentally hostile megaprojects.
One of the main characteristics of MAMA’s work over the last ten years has been network building. Not only do the communities, collectives or organizations in Nuquí (Chocó), Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca) and Quibdó (Chocó) participate; their funding partners are also involved, such as the Goethe-Institut, the British Council or Pro Helvetia, museums, galleries, artists’ collectives or independent national and international artists, festivals and public institutions.
Más Arte Más Acción is part of the Arts Collaboratory (AC) network, consisting of 25 organizations from around the world and focused on artistic practices, processes for social change and community work beyond the field of art. In the same way, the dynamics of AC influence how MAMA relates to its peers in Colombia and the Pacific.