MÜNSTER.- Manigua by nicolás paris is the first solo exhibition by the Colombian artist to be presented in a German institution. His work is a poetic resistance to conventions, rules and entrenched convictions. His working method, based on the act of drawing, on dialogue and elements drawn from architecture, aims to encourage open-ended and experimental learning processes. The knowledge arising from this practice allows for new ways of being together. paris thus transforms the exhibition space into a place of egalitarian, communal and exploratory exchange, centred on collective experience. Essentially, his work is inspired by his interest in the strategies and politics of nature.

nicolás paris’ installations, drawings, objects, workshops and videos, along with his collaborative educational projects are marked by a sense of delicacy and serenity. One of the artist’s fundamental tactics relies on relationships and dialogue—between people, insects, plants or elements. paris transforms the forest—a living system that functions through its manifold relationships and interactions—into an abstract form, making its knowledge visible, audible and tangible. At the same time, paris uses the forest as a role model for exchange and empathy.

Based on the existing alienation of our society with its exploitation of people and nature, the artist investigates our situatedness in the world and the necessity of connecting with the environment as our teacher. He draws on the forest as a kind of interspecies school, referring to it as a place of origin stories and as a sensorial communication network. In the forest, we learn basic lessons about interdependence, mutual aid, and defence systems capable of maintaining balance rather than reverting to annihilation.

With his works, paris allows us to adopt different perspectives by creating a heightened awareness for the missing connection with our surroundings. As a response to decontextualized knowledge consisting of data and theories the human body is unable to process, he seeks to offer meaningful experiences and thus remedy a deficit in our society.

Manigua allows visitors to immerse themselves in other forms of knowledge. The large-scale installation becomes a stage for practicing, whether together or alone. As an essential part of the exhibition open to the public, the accompanying programme offers a series of cooperative, unscripted, workshop-like encounters: exercises, workshops, experiments. paris has conceived the exhibition as a classroom, a place for the exchange of knowledge, where the positions of teacher and student are inconsistent and fluid. In this classroom without hierarchy, people learn together, from and with each other. Yet at all times the question remains in focus as to the state of coexistence and what knowledge the forest has to offer on this matter.

nicolás paris (born in 1977, in Bogotá, Colombia) works primarily in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects closely linked to questions of pedagogical strategies. His artistic practice includes drawings, videos, workshops, installations, object art, text and happenings. The focus of his work is on the structure of classrooms and pedagogical concepts. Having worked as a teacher in rural Colombia for several years, paris sees art as a form of dialogue in which experiences can be shared. In 2017, he founded the Institute for Radical Learning (InPAR): a place to mobilize collaborative processes and facilitate the activation of study groups. He was invited for projects based in educational research at MACBA, Barcelona (2022–2023), Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid (2022), Cultural Network of Banco de la República and MAMU, Bogota (2020–2024), INHOTIM Education residency programme, Brumadinho (2012) and Museum as Hub residency/New Museum Triennial, New York (2012), among others. His works have been shown in numerous international solo and group exhibitions: Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne (2021), Times Museum, Guangzhou (2019), El Museo Del Barrio, New York (2019), GovettBrewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2019), La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2016), CaixaForum, Barcelona (2017), MAC/CCB, Lisbon (2015–2016), XII Havana Biennial (2015), Grazer Kunstverein (2014), CEAAC, Strasbourg (2014), Kadist Art Foundation, Paris (2013), CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson (2013), MUAC, Mexico City, (2012), II Triennial of New Museum, New York (2012), XXX São Paulo Biennale (2012), 54th Venice Biennale (2011), XI Biennial of Lyon (2011) and Museum of Modern Art of Medellin (2009/2016/2023), among others.

Curator: Merle Radtke