Nirma Zárate

One particularly strong political work, Aggression to Vietnam, by Zárate and Arango was added to the Google Arts Project, an online art archive of famous works, in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Bogota (MAC) in 2017 as part of a partnership to upload famous and highly sought after art works into an online library available to users all around the world.

1992: Participates in Atmospheres Andinas, Bolivarian Museum, Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, Santa Marta.

1992 Atmosferas andinas, Museo Bolivariano de Arte Contemporaneo, Santa Marta, Colombia

1990: Handmade Paper Exhibition, Colombian Fund for Scientific Research.

1988: Exhibition Paper and fibers, Museum of Art and Popular Traditions.

1988 El papel y las fibras, Museo de Arte y Tradiciones Populares, Santafé de Bogotá

1986: Handprints exhibition on handmade paper, Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá.

1986 Huellas papel hecho a mano: Nirma Zárate, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogota

1984: Participates in the exhibition Alquimia de papel, from the Galería Acosta Valencia in Bogotá.

1983-84: Pratt Institute scholarship to study printmaking

1980: Make a mural about the strength of the union movement in Antioquia in Sintra Departamento, with the support of Alexis Forero, Teresa Quiñones and Felipe Larrea.

The Taller 4 Rojo, who believed in political expression and resistance through graphic arts and teaching, was originally founded by Zárate and her husband Diego Arango after studying graphic arts at the Royal Academy in London. Specifics on when and how the group was actually founded is a mystery as every artist has a different version, with some saying 1971 and others 1972. The group slowly grew and included other artists such as Carlos Granada and Jorge Mora. The group later gained momentum and grew to include other artists as members of the board, which included Zárate, Arango, Jorge Mora, Jorge Villegas, Germán Rojas, Umberto Giangrandi, Carlos Granada, and Fabio Rodriguez. The key to the group's growth and success at the time, especially in a hostile political environment, was that the artists themselves had an interdisciplinary approach in which they created the art, taught others how to create art, and were politically involved themselves. The group was a safe haven and place where everyone had a voice and these voices were expressed through prints on postcards, pamphlets and publications for social movements. Classes were offered in order to teach community members how to print and become involved. The school, which they called Taller Escuela de Artes Gráficas 4 Rojo, opened on February 10th 1973. Courses were offered in both traditional and contemporary forms of graphic art, including photography, drawing, design, and newer forms of printmaking such as silkscreening. Two courses were offered in graphic arts. The first was a beginners course and the second was an advanced course mostly for college art students but open to those with enough skill. Courses were offered at three different levels of competency and knowledge in the arts: beginning, intermediate, and advanced, the latter being reserved for graduates of art academies looking to advance their knowledge of printmaking. Taller 4 Rojo dissolved in 1974 due to political differences between members.

1972: Exhibits at the Second Latin American Engraving Biennial in San Juan.

1971: Participates in the Colombian Illustrators and Engravers Exhibition organized in the BLAA by Germán Rubiano Caballero and in the First American Biennial of Graphic Arts in Cali.

1970: Returns to Colombia and establishes a Graphic Arts workshop with Diego Arango called Taller 4 Rojo.

In 1969, he moved to London to study silkscreen at the Royal Academy of Arts in London thanks to a British Council Scholarship.

1969: She moved to London to study engraving at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

1969-70: British Council scholarship to study silk screen in England

1968 Nirma Zarate, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogota

1967: She enters as a professor at the Universidad de los Andes.

1964: She obtained the second prize of Painting in the "Intercol" Salon of young artists and made an abstract painting exhibition in the Luis Ángel Arango Library of Bogotá (BLAA).

1964 Nirma Zarate of Colombia: Oils, Organization of American States, Washington, DC

1963: Second Painting Prize at the XV Salón de Artistas Colombianos.

1963: Awarded second place in the painting category in the Colombian National Salon

1962: She makes a trip of studies to the United States and it is based in Washington.

1961: Commissioned by the National University, makes a tour of cultural approach by the countries of South America.

1960: She graduated from the School of Fine Arts of the National University of Colombia and made an individual exhibition at the National Library.

1958: In charge of the chair of drawing at the National Pedagogical Institute.

1955: She began her painting studies at the Universidad de los Andes.

Nirma studied art from the 1950s through the 1960s. She began her studies in art at the University of Los Andes in 1955. She went on to graduate from the School of Fine Arts at the National University of Colombia in 1960.

Nirma Zárate (1936-1999) was a Colombian artist, professor and researcher famously known for her abstract works. Zárate was born in Bogota, Colombia. She grew up in Colombia during World War II. The war had many implications on Colombian lifestyle and politics at the time. Colombia first supported the Axis powers and was in a constant state of shifting between its military powers and societal aspects due to U.S. intervention. Colombia finally shifted to supporting the allies after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During this time, Colombia was in a severe state of poverty where impoverished children roamed the streets in high numbers and were called gamines. During this time, discrimination and violence from police towards impoverished children were extremely high. Zárate experimented with different mediums and styles such as Abstract Art or Pop Art. Her first exhibition was as a student in Bogota and shortly after, she moved to the United States where she lived for four years. She settled in Washington where she was chosen by Union Panamericana De Washington to participate in an exhibition of great Colombian art. Later in her career, Zárate was one of the co-directors of "Taller 4 Rojo", a collective of Colombian artists interested in representing the political and social reality of Colombia. Her art during this period in her life turned shifted to more politically active art. She also taught at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia for many years. Zárate died in her hometown of Bogotá, in 1999, at the age of sixty-three.