USA / 2024 / 68mins / Documentary / English and Spanish

Arte Congo… artists journey on the congo coast of panama is a documentary film that depicts a unique "insider's" view of a new Afro-centric Panamanian art movement that was born at a metaphoric crossroad in the village of Portobelo, Panama when Congo elder Virgilio “Yaneca" Esquina, photographer/author Sandra Eleta and artist/cultural investigator/educator Arturo Lindsay met. Along with a group of artists from Portobelo and the Spelman College Summer Art Colony, they established the painting workshop of Taller Portobelo - the Portobelo Workshop. Taller Portobelo is an artist collective with a two-prong mission: to preserve Congo culture through the visual arts and, to provide income for a culturally and historically rich yet economically challenged community. This film celebrates this innovative art movement by speaking directly with all of the central artists and the critics who explain its esthetic, diasporic and international significance. Arte Congo… had its world premiere screening during the prestigious BronzeLens Film Festival in 2023. It was featured in the 15th Bienal de la Habana in 2024, and was screened at 4 locations in Panama in 2024.

Arturo Lindsay

Dr. Arturo Lindsay is an artist/scholar/educator whose work is informed by the research he conducts on African spiritual and aesthetic retentions.  His research findings are manifested in works of art, as well as books, scholarly essays, lectures and most recently films.  He has a career spanning over 50 years with numerous exhibitions in the USA and abroad. Previous Art Film shorts include The Voyage of the Delfina (2001) Artists Contemplating Torture (2005) and The Fire This Time (2022). Lindsay is a native of Colon, Panama. Learn More