During 2020 I had the great opportunity to participate as an Animator in the framework of the research project: “Building trust to tell the truth among ex-combatant children. Animation for inclusion and peacebuilding in Colombia ” at the Faculty of International, Political and Urban Studies of the Universidad del Rosario.

 

The objective of this project was to create animated audiovisual pieces based on the stories of ex-combatants from the armed conflict in Colombia. It is a project that seeks to make visible the reality of the forced recruitment of minors and the repercussions of the war in Colombia from the use of experimental images. The techniques used to tell these stories are stop-motion and analog animation.

 

This project was possible thanks to an immense collaboration between many artists and researchers such as: Cecilia Traslaviña, Bibiana Rojas, Diego Cortés, Carla Melo, Tatiana Vaca, Enya Loboguerrero, Juliana Cuellar, Antonia Bello, Nicolás Ocampo, David Espitia, among others. The project is carried out with the Truth Commission, an English journalist, Mathew Hinson Charles and an English executive producer, Paul Cooke.

 

These animated films were funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom in association with the University of Leeds in England, the University of Rosario and the Truth Commission .

 

Animation is a very powerful and appropriate way to talk about reality and the problems that afflict us as a society. The project had a profound impact on me in the way I conceived my work as an artist, because now I recognize that we as artists are catalytic seeds of change. I have learned a tremendous amount from having read, listened to and animated the heartbreaking stories of many children who have suffered from war in our country . These stories carry truths that are difficult to digest, but that are key to clarifying the truth, preventing and not repeating the armed conflict in Colombia. In addition, the courage of the authors of the stories seems invaluable to have shared their life stories with the world and show us the reality through their past and their war memories.

 

Moreover, the animation process was difficult for the "raw" nature of the stories and also the impossibility of contact for months due to the pandemic, however thanks to remote teamwork and the immense support I received from my closest partners (Carla Melo, Nicolas Ocampo, Juliana Cuellar, Tatiana Vaca, Nicolas Ocampo, Antonia Bello and David Espitia) as well as Cecilia Traslaviña and Mathew Charles (Director of animations and Project Director) and Enya Loboguerrero and Carla Melo (Co-main animators). Thanks to them it was possible to successfully finish the animations, that is why I am very grateful for their help and guidance, it really is a collective achievement that we all share having completed the animation of these stories.

 

Below are the two stories that I had the opportunity to animate together with Enya Loboguerrero and Carla Melo respectively:

 

1. "MY CHILDHOOD WAS AN AK-47 RIFLE" - Jonathan

 

2. "THE TEST" - Jhon

 

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