Lisa Blackmore & Eulalia de Valdenebro, eds, Cuerpos permeables: páramos, arte y ciencia en diálogo con las obras de Eulalia de Valdenebro. Bogotá: Instituto de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, 2021.
Contributors: Diana María Acevedo-Zapata, Lisa Blackmore, Eulalia De Valdenebro, Ana María Lozano, Adriana Camelo, Camilo Rodríguez, Alejandra Osejo Varona, Paula Ungar.
Graphic design: Teresa Mulet
Colombia’s páramo (high mountain) ecosystems are fundamental to the nation’s water cycle. Although they cover less than 2% of the national territory, they provide around 70% of the country’s water resources. Recent legislation (2018) governing land management has underlined the need for greater public participation in governance debates as well as broader understandings of the importance of these humid lands.
Embedding the value of ecosystems within the social fabric requires strategies that make palpable and knowable the deep connections between all earth beings. The open access publication Cuerpos permeables responds to this challenge by offering a series of essays from diverse disciplines, including artistic practice, social sciences, cartography and community knowledge, that stem from intimate contact with the páramos.
The publication was possible thanks to support from the Impact Acceleration Account, University of Essex and the Proyecto Páramos: Biodiversidad y Recursos Hídricos en los Andes del Norte, a project financed by the European Union with the Instituto Humboldt. The book was published as part of the exhibition Corpus páramo by Eulalia de Valdenebro, in the Claustro San Agustín, Instituto Humboldt de Villa de Leyva, Colombia, October 16th – November 13th.