María Teresa Hincapié

1954, Armenia-2008, Bogotá

Born in Armenia, Colombia, in 1954, María Teresa Hincapié began working in theater in 1978. As a member of the group Acto Latino, she created her own dance-theatre-ritual, inspired by oriental techniques. After traveling to Mexico, Europe, and Asia, she returned to Colombia, where she began searching for alternative spaces for her aesthetic expressions. She became familiar with the works of Eugenio Barba, Joseph Beuys, and Jerzey Grotowski, and met the artists Doris Salcedo, José Alejandro Restrepo, and Álvaro Restrepo. Her danced version of Undine (1986), in collaboration with Álvaro Restrepo, marked the beginning of a fusion between theatre and visual arts. Parquedades (1987), in collaboration with José Alejandro Restrepo, introduced her to what became her genre of expression: performance.

“In the complexity of a sweeping technological era those who are not at vanguard tend to be excluded, ignored and cancelled. This is precisely the context that inspired María Teresa Hincapié to stubbornly insist that simplicity and elementary things are full of meaning… María Teresa Hincapié: a pilgrim, a teacher, a researcher, a performer, has made her daily life a work of art.”

Constanza Ramírez Molano