Abel Rodríguez (Nonuya, born in Cahuinarí region, Colombia; lives in Bogotá, Colombia) is a sage from the Nonuya ethnic group from the Cahuinarí River in the Colombian Amazon. Rodríguez has extensive ancestral knowledge of regional plants and ecosystems, transmitted to him through generations. In the 1990s, Colombian armed conflict displaced Rodríguez from his native territory, and as a way to preserve his legacy, he creates drawings that represent cultural myths and personal memories. Now in his 70s, he is considered one of the most important living artists in Colombia.
Works
Abel Rodríguez at Small Arms
Location: Small Arms Inspection Building (2019)
“I had never drawn before, I barely knew how to write, but I had a whole world in my mind asking me to picture the plants.” Rodríguez, a Nonuya Elder, translates his encyclopedic knowledge of plants and trees in his homeland, the Igara Paraná River region of the Amazon, into…