Ana Maria Millan

Colombian visual artist Ana María Millán works both individually and with collective platforms like the award-winning Helena Producciones. This nonprofit, interdisciplinary group operates in the City of Cali, Colombia, and abroad, utilizing different modes of institutional critique in its projects. It is perhaps best known for producing the Festival de Performance de Cali. Now in its eighth edition, the Festival has created a platform for both local and international artists, and performances have ranged from Santiago Sierra’s American flag mounted on the wall of the Tertulia Museum to French artist Pierre Pinoncelli’s famous finger amputation in protest against the 2002 kidnapping of presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt. In her own work, Millán examines subcultures and their exclusion from historical discourse. Her projects have appeared in exhibitions internationally.

Why we love Ana María Millán:

• Since 1997, Helena Producciones has organized the Festival de Performance de Cali, a platform for international and local performance artists that does not shy away from controversial issues and institutional critique

• During an early installment of the Festival, French artist Pierre Pinoncelli amputated his finger in protest against Ingrid Betancourt’s kidnapping in 2002

• Like Creative Time, Helena Producciones doesn’t have a space; rather, they are committed to activating public places that have cultural, political, and historical significance