Édgar Calel

The art by Edgar Calel, born in 1987 in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, is intersected by a reflection on migration and how this unleashes processes of change in tension with the idea of ancestry, cultural conservation and permanence of being. This interest arises from early age impressions in his native Comalapa and from his interactions with the art and culture in his native community: the indigenous Maya Kaqchikel.

At the age of 19, Calel received a scholarship to study at the National School of Plastic Arts and thus began a life of traveling, first to Guatemala City and then to other Central American countries. During his studies and shortly after obtaining his degree, Calel received awards and recognition mainly for his pictorial work. In 2008 he received a residency at the prestigious “Espira la Espora” program in Nicaragua, an experience that was followed by other residencies in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador. In 2011, Calel did his first residency in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, with a project to establish a multimedia bridge between Central America and Brazil. In recent years, he has been invited to residencies and exhibitions in different Latin American and European countries.