from the artist's website: "The Flower Fair" consisted of organizing and carrying out a series of guided tours through the works of Fernando Botero, "the paisa artist par excellence", at the permanent collection of the Museum of Antioquia in Medellin. The particularity of these visits is that they are carried out by minors (between 12 and 17 years old) exploited by the growing business of sex tourism in Medellin. The kids guide the visitors through the works in which the artist represented the female body. To do this, these atypical modern art guides rely on their personal experiences around child sexual exploitation and demonstrating the dehumanization of the female body, showing catalogues selling virginity that can be found on the city streets and through which tourists –mainly from the USA, Spain, Israel, Germany and Mexico– select the girl or boy whose virginity they want to buy. ‘Medellín Miracle’ is a new city model defined as progressive, cosmopolitan, innovative and cultural. The major urban renewal at an international scale uses culture as a key element to “revitalize” city centers. For that reason, Fernando Botero donated 137 artworks and a million dollars to the Museo de Antioquía. He also bestowed 23 monumental sculptures for the construction of a square that is placed in front of the museum. The square was given his name. This allowed Medellín to be promoted as ‘the Botero City’, and at the same time to be internationally charted as a cultural touristic destination. Despite several social achievements, one of its worst consequences is hidden under this lucrative “face-lift”: child’s sexual exploitation in the growing sex tourism industry. The project invites to do a critical review of the dominant patriarchal and sexist gaze in the Art History.

Labastida, A., J. Carrillo, E. Mucha, and L. Llevadot, 2016: Núria Güell. Works (2008-2016), ADNgaleria ediciones, Barcelona, pag. 162-167.