Agua que ya corrió

Abstract

This text explores the natural, social, and political characteristics of the Colombia-Venezuela border, aiming to understand, from an artistic perspective, the significance of the Orinoco River as it traverses Colombian and Venezuelan territories. It examines how the river serves as both a record and a central figure in the ancient and recent history of navigation in the region it flows through. Additionally, the text includes the author's personal experiences in the area, recounting how he crossed the river daily as a child and was involved in local smuggling and illegal trade. These experiences spark an interest in investigating the sociopolitical context of the border region, specifically in the Vichada (Colombia) and Amazonas (Venezuela) territories. The project also aims to interpret border commercial activities from an artistic perspective, highlighting the lines or traces left by varying river levels on the rocks of the Guiana Shield as markers of recent civilizations in the area. These records capture information about recent commercial and navigational events, observable in the marks left by different river levels on the igneous rocks, which contribute to the surreal beauty of the mentioned locations.