Coffee Region hosted Biarco through 21 October

The Coffee Region hosted the Biarco contemporary art biennial from 14 to 21 October 2026, with a travelling gallery reaching Salento in Colombia. The event brought international contemporary art to Quindio during a period when the region’s cultural landscape remained central to its visitor appeal.

Biarco brought contemporary art to Salento

The sixth Biarco International Contemporary Art Biennial took place from 14 to 21 October 2026, with Armenia as its main setting and additional activity in Salento. The biennial programme included six exhibition spaces, around 200 works shown in person and artists from 25 countries.

The programme’s central idea was De lo finito a lo infinito, a theme interpreted through works about the universe, life and creative possibilities. The event was organised by the Corporacion Biarco, whose manager Matteo Villanueva described the biennial as a meeting point for established artists and emerging creators.

Its most relevant link with Salento was Matriuska, a travelling gallery made from recycled containers. The structure stayed four days in Armenia’s Plaza de Bolivar and three days in Salento, extending the exhibition beyond the departmental capital and placing a temporary art venue in one of Quindio’s best-known towns.

Why the biennial belongs in the Coffee Region

The event took place within the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, a World Heritage property that UNESCO describes as a continuing productive landscape. The property comprises six farming landscapes and 18 urban centres in the western Colombian Andes, where coffee cultivation, settlement patterns and architecture form a connected cultural setting. UNESCO’s landscape record confirms its inscription on the World Heritage List in 2011.

That context gives the Salento programme a specific setting rather than a generic gallery circuit. The town lies in Quindio, while the wider heritage landscape also reaches Caldas, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca. Its urban areas are associated with architecture influenced by Antioquian colonisation, including buildings using cob, pleated cane and clay roof tiles.

For visitors, the connection between art and place was practical: the Matriuska carried part of the biennial into Salento instead of requiring every visitor to travel to Armenia. The exhibition’s temporary structure therefore joined a contemporary programme to a landscape recognised for its long-running relationship between coffee production, towns and mountain terrain.

Visiting Coffee Region: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Biarco ran from 14 to 21 October 2026 in Armenia and Salento, with the Matriuska gallery scheduled for three days in Salento.
• The programme used exhibition spaces in Armenia and a travelling gallery in Salento; each venue had its own visitor arrangements.
• The wider heritage landscape covers six farming areas and 18 urban centres in the western Colombian Andes, so travel between venues involves a mountainous regional setting.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Coffee Region

When did Biarco take place in the Coffee Region?

The sixth Biarco International Contemporary Art Biennial ran from 14 to 21 October 2026 in Armenia, with additional programming in Salento.

What is the Coffee Region?

It is the English name used here for Colombia’s coffee-growing region, which includes the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia and towns such as Salento.

Where is Salento and how do you get there?

Salento is in the department of Quindio, within the western Colombian Andes and the wider Coffee Cultural Landscape.