Cuentos de Aguas
Clémence Vazard
la Sala U de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia
International Art Biennial of Medellín 2025
Cuentos de Aguas
Cuentos de Aguas is a participatory textile artwork measuring 60 meters, created by Clémence Vazard within the Villa Crea Colombia residency program in Medellín.
The work emerged from exploring the riverbeds with local inhabitants, connecting with the human and non-human beings inhabiting the banks of the waterways in the Aburrá Valley. Clémence Vazard explains that by reconnecting with its waters, they recognized their wounds and affirmed their rights to be heard, respected, and cared for.
Waters collected from the source of the quebrada Santa Elena to its discharge into the río Medellín were fermented with regional medicinal dye plants, following a process inspired by Amazonian chicha. According to Clémence Vazard, from their relationships emerged unique colors that infused the fabric with their powers.
Clémence Vazard describes how dyeing the often contaminated waters with healing plants transforms the artistic gesture into a practice of care. The work thus becomes a hydrochromatic testimony to the territory’s memory, where each shade recounts the singular stories of its waters. She asserts that Cuentos de Aguas affirms both water care as an act of resistance and fermentation as a practice of collective regeneration.
The artwork was exhibited at the 2025 Bienal Internacional de Arte de Medellín (BIAM). The project was realized within the framework of the Villa Crea Colombia residency in Medellín with the support of the French Embassy, the French Institute of Colombia, the Alliance Française de Medellín, La Fabrique des résidences program of the Institut français in Paris, and Plato Hedro, in collaboration with BIAM and the University Foundation of Fine Arts of Medellín.