Colombian artists see a different landscape

Colombian artists from throughout the Boston area will have a showcase on Thursday, when they bring their work to Harvard University's Ticknor Lounge for a collective exhibition.

In painting, photography, video art, sculpture, quilting, and performance, the 14 artists -- all but two of whom hail from the civil war-racked South American country -- often allude to Colombia's distinct landscape and sensibility.

But the work goes beyond the visual to explore a range of ideas linked to identity and structures of power, according to Sandra P. Castillo, an East Boston artist who contributed work to the show and co-curated it with Francisco Garcia.

''What people are showing is a landscape -- whether it is a social landscape, a political landscape, a personal landscape, or a sort of idyllic landscape," Castillo said.

The one-night event Feb. 9, entitled ''Colombian Art in Harvard Yard: A Group Show of Colombian Artists," is sponsored by Harvard's Latino student group Fuerza Latina.

Besides the artwork, there will be live music and an artist talk, Castillo said. Lina Maria Giraldo will present her performance piece ''Bubbles for Sale," made to honor her Colombian compatriots who work as dishwashers in restaurant kitchens around Boston.

''They usually work more then 60 hours per week, without benefits. Some of them have to work in extreme conditions, which could come close to slavery," Giraldo said in her artist statement.

''By taking the soap they use in their daily work and placing it in a stylish bottle, I take the observer and pull him out of his daily chores and into someone else's reality for an instant."

The public is invited to the free reception Thursday from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Ticknor Lounge in Boylston Hall, next to Widener Library in Harvard Yard, Harvard Square, Cambridge. CHRISTINE MacDONALD