Premio Acoplásticos

As part of the 21st edition of ARTBO | Bogotá International Art Fair, the Acoplásticos Art Award was awarded. This award encourages creating new works and strengthens the ties between art and the cultural economy. 

The jury, composed of Claudia Segura Campins (Spain), the head of the MACBA Collection; Carlos Eduardo Betancourt (Colombia), curator and exhibition designer; and Rafael Londoño Mejía (Colombia), collector and independent curator, unanimously awarded the prize to artist Gabriela Pinilla for the conceptual strength and artistic quality of her project, No Hay Amor Sin Libertad. 

This award celebrates the career and creative force of this plastic artist and educator, whose work has explored, through murals, illustration and graphic narratives, the silence which prevails throughout the official history of Colombia and Latin America. This time, using the aforementioned techniques, she highlights the lives of 19th-century women independence fighters, which in turns builds on a more inclusive historical memory.

Her work has been presented in various cultural venues and publishing projects, solidifying her role as one of the most relevant voices in visual research and contemporary artistic practice in the country. 

The award, which stems from a partnership between Acoplásticos and ARTBO | Feria, includes a cash prize of 100 million pesos, distributed to those who worked on production, museography, installation as well as fees for the artist. It also includes a special recognition for Galería La Cometa, Pinilla's representative, and includes financial support and a discount on the next edition of the fair. 

In addition to these components, specialized curatorial support and guaranteed exhibition of the award-winning work at both ARTBO | Feria 2026 and ARTBO | Salas is also provided, this strengthening the artist's projection and recognition in the contemporary scene.

During the awards ceremony, special mentions were also given to the shortlisted artists Eduard Moreno and Gloria Sebastián Fierro, whose projects were recognized by the jury for their conceptual consistency and creative exploration. Likewise, the participation of the 43 artists and galleries who submitted proposals that showed great artistic value, were also recognized. This led to the creation of a project bank, a point of reference for the creative processes which fall within the award framework.