Returning to the origins
As a prelude to the Seventh Architecture Biennial of Santa Cruz (BASC), Manzana 1 Espacio de Arte has put together the photography exhibit titled RETORNO A LOS ORÍGENES (Returning to the origins), organized together with the Architects’ Guild of Santa Cruz.
The selection of 30 images from 17 photographers invited by the Architects’ Guild focuses on the main theme of the Biennial: a return to the source. It proposes to rethink architecture and the responsibility of reflecting on the spaces we inhabit to link these with memory. Thus, the exhibit displays some images of the capital city of Santa Cruz, its provinces, as well as images from other departments of Bolivia and other countries as well.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Alvaro Gutierrez
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1991. He majored in Fine Arts and focused on Architecture. He has a masters’ from the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, USA. He participated in Exchange programs between Savannah College of Art and Design and Paris, France (2013) and Hong Kong, China (2012).
Alvaro Mier
Yacuiba, Tarija, 1965. Architect. He began his studies in the Faculty of Architecture at Universidad de San Simon in Cochabamba, and finished his major at Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Goias, Brazil. He coursed postgraduate studies in Business Management and Finance for Construction at Universidad NUR and has his own professional studio. He practices architectural photography. His first exhibit was Crux Sancta, which took place at Manzana 1 Espacio de Arte in 2019, ten years after he began his career as a professional photographer.
Antonio Dávila
La Paz, 1981. He studied Commercial Engineering at Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, UPSA. He was a photographer and editor of the cultural magazine Almazen (2008-2013). He has a diploma in photography from Universidad Evangelica Boliviana (UEB). He has participated in collective exhibits such as Gente de Noche, which took place at Centro Simon I. Patiño, Escenarios Latentes at Kiosko art gallery, and Enfoques 2019, at Centro de la Cultura Plurinacional. He works in management at Manzana 1 Espacio de Arte and in photography production and editing for catalogs and magazines.
Bernardo Boehme
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1976. Architect. His calling as an artist led him to practice visual arts, such as painting and photography. He participated in various collective and individual exhibits, both in painting and photography, in diverse art galleries. He participated in contemporary art residences and the proposals he developed therein were displayed at the Contemporary Art Museum (MAC) in 2018 and in various public settings.
Carlos Paz
La Paz, 1971. Visual artist and self-taught sculptor. He has coursed diverse architecture courses. He has been working in art since 2013. He participated in 20 collective and individual exhibits in Santa Cruz and La Paz. He won the International Art Biennial of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 2019 with his work Tamborita, and first place in the National Contest of Centro Poetico de Sud America / Plazuela Calleja with his work Soy un rio de pie.
Efrain Miguel Calle Sarzuri
El Alto, 1987. Architect. He studied at Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz. He worked in the design team in charge of designing the first stage of the cable car transportation system in La Paz. He is a consultant at the UN Habitat Bolivia and manages the company Duarqui SRL. He has been working in art for the past nine years. He develops documentary film projects and won first place in the contest organized by the Ministry of Cultures in 2014 with the project La Sombrerería, and second place in digital design, in the Eduardo Avaroa contest, as well as first place in photography of cultural heritage, called by the Ministry of Cultures in 2018.
Franz Nino Perez Robles
Cochabamba, 1975. Architect. He studied at Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz, UPSA. He is a professor at Universidad Catolica Boliviana San Pablo, UCB, and is adjunct editor of the Architecture Magazine published by UCB. He won first place in the Industrial Park Ideas contest, and third place in the Edificio Cruz Roja Contest.
Gianni Renzo Borja Godoy
La Paz, 1981. Architect, photographer and graphic designer. He is a member of multidisciplinary collectives with whom he executes projects in the fields of architecture, design, photography and art since 2006. He is the coordinator and coorganizer of the Bolivian Architecture Biennial since 2012. He was a member representing Bolivia in the selection committee for the Iberoamerican Architecture and Urbanism Biennial (BIAU) in 2014 and 2016. He is a professor in the post-graduate program on Geography, City and Architecture at Escola da Cidade, in San Pablo, Brazil and at Universidad Mayor de San Andres and Universidad Catolica Boliviana San Pablo. He writes essays for magazines and newspaper sections dedicated to culture, architecture and city affairs.
Jery Dino Mendez Hurtado
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1962. He chose architecture as his profession and photography as his passion, studying courses with Ruben Dario Azogue, Juanjo Martinez and Pilar Rubi. He has a diploma in photography from UEB, were he studied under other professionals like Roberto Valcarcel, Jhon Orellana and Patricio Crooker. He participated in many photography symposiums and field trips.
Juan Manuel Montes Jordan
Oruro, 1989. He majored in audiovisual communications at Universidad Real de la Camara Nacional de Comercio, in La Paz and has a masters’ in Communications from Universidad Europa del Atlántico, Spain. He won various awards, such as Best Photography with the video La leyenda de don Juan de Toledo (2009), Best Documentary with the video La divina documedia, Best animation for the video Winter Wind op 27, (FESVIPAZ – 2010), First prize at the Expo Vivienda photography award (2018), Fourth National Photography award in the Wiki Media Commons Contest, representing Bolivia worldwide (2014) and First place in photography at the National Contest Mi patrimonio (2018).
Leonardo Justiniano Souza
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1999. He studies Commercial Engineering and works as a Graphic Reporter at the SouzaInfantas news agency, for which he has covered news inside Bolivia and abroad. In 2018, he was commissioned to cover the Dakar Rally and was considered by the international press as the youngest journalist in the event.
Luis Mauricio Aguilar Machicado
La Paz, 1990. A professional photographer, he won second place at the Freddy Alborta photography contest, First place in the Coroico Photography contest Workshop H 2012 FAADU – UMSA. He participated in individual and group exhibits and published his work in magazines, agendas, catalogs and other forms of printed media.
Marcelo Parejas
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1990. He majored in Architecture at Universidad Diego Portales de Santiago de Chile. He currently manages his professional studio, ITOS Arquitectura.
Martin Fernandez de Cordova
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1990. He majored in Architecture at Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz, UPSA, Bolivia and at Accademia d’Architettura, Mendrisio, Switzerland. He has a masters’ from TU Delf Technical University, The Netherlands. He worked at Arup Foresight, as a member of the prospections team. He currently works at Fernandez de Córdova & Roda. He had an individual photography show at Goethe-Zentrum in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Mauricio Méndez Arevalo
Tarija, 1993. He majored in Architecture at Universidad Catolica Boliviana San Pablo. He won various awards: as a member of the Uraycamuy group, he shared the Social Latin American Workshop at the International Architecture Biennial at Buenos Aires BA15; He won third prize in the Thirteenth Bolivian Architecture Biennial.
Rodrigo Urzagasti Saldias
La Paz, 1985. Audiovisual Communications Major from Universidad Catolica Boliviana Diakonia (2009), with a minor in fixed photography. Documentary Photographer. He has a diploma from UEB (2010). He participated in workshops on lighting, production, urban photography, photojournalism and cinematography. He contributed documentary photographs to Quepasa.com (Chile), Todavia (Argentina), El Deber, La Razon, El Nuevo Dia, El Diario, Cash negocios y finanzas, DXT, photojournalism agency AFKA and he currently works as a photographer at the Thomson Reuters International News Agency. He won the municipal contest Jovenes Creadores 2010 and La noche cruceña 2009 organized by Revista Vamos.
Rolando Aparicio Velasco
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1986. Freelance journalist and photographer. He majored in journalism and worked in Buenos Aires for the magazine Hecho, FM La Tribu and the bi-monthly Renacer, as well as for other community media. He returned to Bolivia in 2014 and worked as a journalist and photographer at El Deber newspaper and the magazines Piedra Libre and Revista Amaszonas, as a tourism journalist.
