Translated by Andrés Martínez Forero
In Bogotá, My City, My Home, children and young people from every part of the city took part during the last week of May in The Colors of Childhood Inspiration: The 4th International Children’s Art Festival, a UNESCO initiative that uses art to encourage reflection on sustainability and caring for the planet. Here’s the story.
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María Claudia Parias, Director ofBogotá’s District Institute of the Arts (Idartes), spoke with Portal Bogotá about the city’s participation in the initiative. In the following audio, she reflects on the role of art in the development of younger generations and its ability to help them engage with issues such as the climate crisis and biodiversity conservation:
As part of Children’s Month, Idartes, through its Nidos early childhood arts program and Crea, developed a series of artistic experiences centered on biodiversity, ecosystems and the relationship between people and nature.
One of these activities was the Pintatón, which brought together nearly 400 participants from Crea Training Centers across Bogotá. The activity transformed their learning processes into spaces for dialogue about the climate crisis and environmental challenges, leading to collective artworks inspired by wetlands, birds, capybaras, Michael Jackson’s Earth Song, and reflections on the relationship between humanity and nature.
The Nidos program also joined the initiative by developing nine artistic experiences in different parts of Bogotá. Through play, music and exploration, young children and their families discovered the richness of Bogotá’s ecosystems and the importance of caring for their surroundings.
Listen to the Director speak about the role of art in shaping new generations and helping them understand complex issues such as the climate crisis and biodiversity conservation:
Through guided experiences, artistic activities, installations, characters and soundscapes, communities explored the memories and stories of their neighborhoods and reflected on the biodiversity found within them. They also worked together to imagine new ways of experiencing and inhabiting the city, grounded in a shared responsibility to care for life.
In the following audio, learn more about the participants’ discoveries and reflections that surprised the Director most during this artistic process:
The participation of Nidos and Crea in this international initiative shows how art can become a powerful tool for promoting environmental education and fostering active citizenship from an early age. From early childhood through youth, these experiences transformed questions and emotions into collective creations that invite us to imagine a future in greater harmony with nature.
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To conclude, the Idartes Director mentioned some of the activities that Nidos and Crea will continue to develop with children and young people across Bogotá. Listen to her remarks here:
Through their colors, stories and questions, Bogotá’s children and young people joined this global conversation led by UNESCO, showing that imagining other possible futures is also a way of beginning to build them.
*This article was created using information provided by the Bogotá’s International Relations Office and curated by a journalist from Portal Bogotá. For suggestions, questions, or more information, visit Bogotá Te Escucha: https://bogota.gov.co/sdqs/
