Alejandro Gómez Gracía /
Photojournalist - Anthropologist
The phenomenon of migrations is a characteristic of social behaivour that has existed since the very beginning. From immemorial times Homo Sapiens has been an adventurer, an explorer of new horizons. Despite the rising idea of sedentarism, people are still looking for new horizons, especially now with globalization and mass media. The Access to all possibilities offered by internet, making everyone to be able to navigate in the digital space and explore any place of the world, have created a diaspora without precedents.
Mario is one of these migrant. Rised in Colombia, a country in war and in the middle of an economic crisis, he decided to leave its country. The lack of opportunities offered by Colombia awoke in him, like many fellow countrymen of his generation, desire for adventure. Internet with that massive archive of information without borders, showed to Colombians other places of the world, another places to live in. It was only a matter of putting a finger on the map.
In his 20’s Mario flew to London with the idea of learn english and why not? find a job and live in one of the most multicultural countries in the world. He lived there for about 17 years, knew Claire (his wife) and had their first daughter. In London Mario had the possibility to do an MA in arts and make enough money to buy a flat in Hackney Wick, an industrial zone that from the Olympic Games of 2008 was transformed into a posh neighborhood. Mario was one of the first who invested in this area, which no one gave a penny for it. Life in London used to be cheaper, but suddenly prices rose, evicted to almost all the squats, education was extremely costly; it changed into a place for rich people. This underground and "dodgy" british world became into a place that accepts only people with a lot of money and made all artists, musicians and others move to the outskirts of the british capital.
A French and a Colombian living the adventure in London, which was diluted with the devastating effect of gentrification. Mario had already many years away from his country and was looking forward to returning and to try some luck in his homeland. Claire, for its part, saw it as an opportunity to learn Spanish and to look for a job. In this way, with a baby on board, they flew to the north of South America.
Mario with his art was always very critical, took small plastic soldiers and transformed these figures showing the horrors of war. Some of this figures were on their knees covering their faces, another pointed out his head with the gun. He has always thought of doing things that transform positively social behavior. Now with the experience of their second diaspora, he realized that the real work is to get land and strengthen the bonds of community with his neighbors. This was his new way of making art. Purchase some land in the eastern plains of Colombia and start a reforestation project, teaching and working with the people of the area.
The land of the red sunsets gave to Mario a little of its wealth. However, with the time his dream had come to an end. His wife Claire was not able to get into the Colombian culture and Mario’s company came down by a partner that they made a bad move. Their dream of living in the countryside with a self-sustaining project, friendly with the environment and helping people, wasn't worth enough to lose his family.
Months later, Mario realizes that been without his family doesn’t allow him to be in peace, also started to miss London and the life in Europe. Thus, he did his suitcases again and without knowing a dash of French undertook a journey to the land of Jules Verne. Nantes one of the capitals of the art of Europe received Mario
with open arms. He and his family rented a cottage in Sucé Sur Erdre, a small village near Nantes in order to go looking for life in the countryside. Two years later they moved to Joué Sur Erdre. They got a bretonian barn, very old and in disuse, so they cleaned and remodeled. I even helped in part of that process.
After years of living from one place to another, of having to deal with political and economic boundaries, Mario is now where he wants to be, not where he has to. Now he owns his own land and makes part of the French peasant associations contributing with his knowledge. Has achieved its art.
