Cases & Voices

The National Academic Network of Advanced Technology of Colombia, RENATA, provided the collaboration tools and the technical support in the implementation of the 2020 International Image Festival organized by the University of Caldas.

(Source: RENATA Colombia) "The festival is a space that emerged 23 years ago at the University of Caldas, whose essential characteristic is to unite professionals, artists, designers and students from different fields related to the image", expressed Ángela Ramírez, executive producer of the Festival.

The event, led by the Department of Audiovisual Design of the University of Caldas, had more than 100 speakers from 20 countries and was attended by 1,530 people from 36 countries (Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil , Argentina, Chile, France, Portugal, Germany, Finland, Norway, Austria, Australia, South Africa, India, Turkey, Israel, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, New Zealand, Romania , Belgium, Macau, Hong Kong and Greece).

"I think the most important thing is that these 1,530 people who participated witnessed a dynamic of thought, involving themes of design, art and science", said Felipe C. Londoño, director of the Festival.

The 19th edition of the festival featured a special guest, Arturo Escobar, colombian anthropologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose areas of interest are political ecology, development anthropology, social movements, science and technology, as well as questions about Colombia.

The festival was held in conjunction with the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University and for the first time it was held through digital media, due to the current context, which allowed RENATA to work in a strategic alliance with both institutions to guarantee the success of the event.

“More than a strategic alliance, it was a synergy that we were able to create between RENATA and the International Image Festival team, where we got together perfectly and a product as good as this could come out”, commented Ángela Ramírez.

“The confinement process invites us to use the networks in a more intelligent way, we must also do it to have fun, to rest, to talk with friends, watch movies and play video games. In addition, RENATA invites us to use the specialized rooms to establish dialogues that enrich the academic processes in our institutions and that is what we as institutions would have to look for in order to work jointly with the National Research and Education Network of Colombia ”, expressed Felipe C Londoño.

Regarding the support and role of the National Academic Network for Advanced Technology, RENATA, in the Festival, the executive producer commented: “RENATA provided us with 16 virtual rooms and an entire technical team practically 24 hours a day. In addition, it provided us with incalculable training for our engineers, we have such a synchronized strategic alliance that we were able to do all cross-transmission without any problem. The invitation from RENATA is that they can articulate with other researchers in the world, the idea is that they also see us as that way of reaching other art and culture faculties that are in Latin America through RedCLARA and of all its member networks from Mexico to Chile. That we look for these spaces and that in the next festival we can invite them to participate and share their experiences of what this type of project is like in their countries, that seems to me a very good opportunity for the Network", added Londoño.

The National Academic Network of Advanced Technology, RENATA, is the national research and education network of Colombia, which connects, articulates and integrates the academic and scientific community, the productive sector and the State, with each other and with the world. It provides services, tools and technological infrastructure for the development of knowledge, research, education and innovation in the country.