Documentation Center of the Santa Fe Gallery

The Documentation Center of the Santa Fe Gallery (Centro de Documentación de la Galería Santa Fe) is a specialized information unit of the Galería Santa Fe, a public art gallery in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. It promotes reading, writing and research in the field of plastic and visual arts. The Center traces its origin to 1981, the year the Galería Santa Fe was founded under the administration of the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo (IDCT). Over the decades it has consolidated a documentary heritage that currently holds 4,946 items, including books, magazines, catalogues, photographs and audiovisual material. The Center is located at the current headquarters of the Galería Santa Fe, in the Plaza de Mercado La Concordia in Bogotá. Its mission is to safeguard, preserve, organize and disseminate its documentary heritage, integrating specialized information resources and services that strengthen memory and research around the plastic and visual arts. It operates as a public service unit under the Instituto Distrital de las Artes – Idartes, the district arts agency of the Mayor's Office of Bogotá. Services offered to the public include an online catalogue of the specialized collection, in-room loan of books, catalogues, slides, photographs and other materials, reservation of space for academic, creative and research activities, and specialized bibliography support that provides references and academic articles by email within five business days. Interested persons can become members of the Documentation Center through an affiliation form and access all available services and benefits. As part of the Galería Santa Fe ecosystem, the Documentation Center supports the gallery's wider programming, which includes national and international circulation grants for visual artists, curators and researchers, the Virtual Gallery (Sala Virtual GSF) for born-digital artistic projects, and the Distrito Grafiti strategy for responsible urban art and graffiti in Bogotá. The Center thus functions as the memory and research backbone of one of Bogotá's key public platforms for contemporary visual arts.

The Documentation Center of the Santa Fe Gallery is inseparable from the history of the Galería Santa Fe itself. The gallery was founded in 1981 under the administration of the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo (IDCT), the district institute for culture and tourism of Bogotá. From that founding year, the Documentation Center began consolidating a documentary collection dedicated to the plastic and visual arts, gradually becoming a specialized information unit within the gallery. Over the following decades, the Center built an acervo that today numbers 4,946 items, encompassing books, magazines, catalogues, photographs and audiovisual material. This collection documents the trajectory of Colombian and international visual arts, exhibition histories and critical discourse, and it supports the research and curatorial work associated with the gallery's programming. Institutional reorganization in Bogotá's cultural sector placed the Galería Santa Fe and its Documentation Center under the Instituto Distrital de las Artes – Idartes, the district arts institute created by the Mayor's Office of Bogotá. Under Idartes, the gallery has operated from its current headquarters in the Plaza de Mercado La Concordia, where the Documentation Center is also located. The Center's mission is to safeguard, preserve, organize and disseminate its documentary heritage, integrating specialized information resources and services that strengthen memory and research around the plastic and visual arts. In the 2010s and 2020s the Center and the wider Galería Santa Fe platform expanded their public programming. The gallery administers national and international circulation grants for artists, researchers and curators, runs the Sala Virtual GSF for artistic projects that can only exist online, and coordinates Distrito Grafiti, the district strategy for responsible urban art and graffiti created after Bogotá's Decreto 075 of 2013. The Documentation Center provides the documentary and research infrastructure that underpins these initiatives, offering an online catalogue, in-room consultation, bibliography services and affiliation to the public.

• 2026

  The virtual project Scrolling Life is presented as part of Red GSF.

• 2025

  The virtual project El peso de la luz is presented as part of Red GSF; national and international circulation projects are supported.

• 2024

  Virtual projects Ears of a criminal person and La casa que migra are presented as part of Red GSF.

• 2023

  The virtual project CAPTCHA, curated by Rastro, is presented as part of Red GSF.

• 2021

  Virtual Gallery projects REVER and ?c uenta conmigo, mi amor ? are presented under Red GSF.

• 2020

  Sala Virtual GSF projects such as Tecnodiversidad and Sueños Distantes are presented as part of the gallery's virtual programming.

• 2019

  The Beca Ciudad de Bogotá de Arte Urbano reaches its seventh edition, promoting urban art interventions in 12 localities of the city.

• 2013

  Bogotá's Mayor's Office issues Decreto 075, establishing rules for responsible urban art and graffiti, later supported by the Distrito Grafiti strategy associated with the Galería Santa Fe platform.

• 1981

  Galería Santa Fe is founded under the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo (IDCT); the Documentation Center begins consolidating its collection.

A public, specialized documentation and research center for plastic and visual arts, embedded in Bogotá's Galería Santa Fe and operated by Idartes.

• Online catalogue of the specialized collection

  A digital catalogue allowing users to consult the specialized collection in plastic and visual arts from anywhere.

• In-room loan of materials

  Availability of books, catalogues, slides, photographs and other materials for consultation on site.

• Specialized bibliography service

  Support in searching and selecting references for research projects, with bibliography and academic articles sent by email within five business days.

• Space reservation

  The Documentation Center is available for academic, creative and research activities upon request.

• Affiliation program

  Interested persons can affiliate with the Documentation Center and access all services and benefits.

1. 1Centro de Documentación de la Galería Santa Fe – Galería Santa Fegaleriasantafe.gov.co
2. 2Circulación Nacional e Internacional en Artes Plásticas y Visuales – Galería Santa Fegaleriasantafe.gov.co
3. 3Sala virtual GSF – Galería Santa Fegaleriasantafe.gov.co
4. 4Sobre Distrito Grafiti – Galería Santa Fegaleriasantafe.gov.co
5. 5Documentation Center of the Santa Fe Gallery – Wikidatawikidata.org