A parasite is a key feature of any system, acting as a “thermal exciter” that alters the nature of the environment to which it belongs. The independent spaces within Bogotá’s art scene have acted as parasites in this sense, as opposed to the commonly construed notion of an organism that lives off others.

Trinidad Lopetegui and Sebastian Rojas from Galería CIMA joined Daniel Aguayo and OtherNetwork to discuss the role that Galería CIMA played during the social unrest that swept through Santiago in October 2019. This landmark event raised new questions about the potential roles that independent art spaces could assume within a society facing pressure.