MAGIC IS

IN THE AIR

Desert landscapes touch tropical rain forests, palm

trees grow up into the sky, pink dolphins glide by,

smiling at lethal frogs, parrots chatter undisturbed by

poisonous spiders as elegant flamingoes wade in

shallow water... Colombia, although comparatively

small, is home to a biodiversity almost without paral-

lel in this world.

It is no wonder then, that it is the birthplace of realis-

mo mágico, the magical reality: an artistic movement

that has inspired painters and authors, filmmakers,

photographers and designers since the 1920s. It is

the opposite of the new objectivity. It delights in the

extraordinary and the unexpected.

Ana Maria Calderón Kayser was captivated by this

magical reality as a child travelling around her home

country. It inspires her still, and as a grown woman liv-

ing in Germany, she brings designers of international

acclaim with her to travel even to the most remote

Wüstenlandschaften flankieren tropischen Regenwald,

Palmen wachsen in den Himmel, rosa Amazonas-

delphine gleiten durch den Fluss, am Ufer leben

Pfeilgiftfrösche im Unterholz, geschwätzige Papageien

bewohnen den Regenwald in friedlicher Nachbar-

schaft mit giftigen Spinnen, Flamingos waten durchs

seichte Wasser ... Kolumbien beherbergt auf ver-

gleichsweise kleinem Raum eine Artenvielfalt, die

weltweit ihres Gleichen sucht.

Es verwundert also nicht, dass dieses Land den

„realismo mágico“, also den Magischen Realis-

mus, hervorbrachte, eine künstlerische Strömung,

die seit den 1920er-Jahren vor allem Maler und

Schriftsteller, Filmemacher, Fotografen und Designer

inspiriert. Das Gegenstück zur Neuen Sachlichkeit

findet besonderen Gefallen am Außergewöhnlichen

und Unerwarteten.

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