Temporary partnerships to apply for pooled funds

María Teresa Rojas is a curator and the founder of Materia Gris, an art residency that operates since 2014 in La Paz, Bolivia.

Materia Gris is an autonomous project that principally finances its activities through international collaborations with cultural agents. “I have a network of Latin American collaborators in which I have been working for many years,” indicates María Teresa Rojas.

Among these collaborators, the project La Platino was managed by two cultural producers, and one of them could receive funds from the Spanish government to realize some works in Latin America. Another one was an Ecuadorian curator working with the FLACSO gallery Arte Actual that had dedicated funds for the realization of projects in the region. Other similar collaborations were made with cultural agents from Guatemala, Chile, Colombia…

“All of them had, let's say, in a certain way, a structure to go on with their project. We got together and the only one that could not contribute was Materia Gris. So, I became, the person permanently hired within that project. It was not optional, let's say. So, from the funds that we worked together, from the funds that we competed for, money came out that was understood to be my payment, but in reality it was my payment and a contribution to Materia Gris,” explains the founder.

The main reason for this search for collaborative projects that could finance Materia Gris and remunerate its founder, is that in Bolivia, "we have already investigated it, and it is not possible. And Bolivia does not have the possibility of generating a specific fund for a residency like Materia Gris. The Ministry of Culture tried at some point to give me some contribution, but it was impossible for the State to understand that there was no profit motive. And there is no profit motive because I could not even make them understand that I was not registered as a gallery,” confides María Teresa Rojas.

It is why creating collaborative projects with people working with foreign funds are an essential part of her work and to the survival of the residency. “I am obliged to go to the places where projects are submitted and where I work, and that also allows me to reflect on what I am doing from other places,” concludes María Teresa Rojas.