Understanding Colombian cultureThere are of course many faces to Colombian Culture. Therefore, this page will be structured as follows: - Family It's all about the family. Colombian culture is centered around it. As is also customary in Southern Europe, Colombians have very strong family-ties. It is typical for them to work together, run companies together and collaborate on a number of projects. Trust is certainly a factor and practical factors also explain part of this.
For example, it is customary to share things so if your aunt owns a farm, whenever you visit, it's typical to be given eggs, plantains or whatever produce they happen to have. In return and depending on what skill or craft other family member have, they will give back and forth. General As a bit of popular culture, it might be fun to see the movie, Maria Full of Grace, starring Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno. Colombian culture is based on enjoying life. Here, people are warm, hospitable and enjoy company. They treat their guests extremely well and it's hard to overstay your welcome. If anything, it can be difficult to leave as the social get together tends to go on for hour after hour. When you visit someone, it is customary for something to be served and the women of the household frequently cook on and of for much of the day. Male/ female roles are far more "traditional" here. The women cook and clean and the men work at their job. The woman is the heart of the family and knows how to mend things, looks after the children, welcomes visitors and spends time with the family and feeds everyone. Generally, Colombians are known to be hard working. Many have an entrepreneurial spirit, often combining a small home enterprise with a day job. Especially in the Antioquia region and Medellin where the local "Paisas" pride themselves on their hard work and being the most enterprising in the nation. This is in many ways true. The coast is hotter and more laid back. Therefore, it can also be poorer, more typical Caribbean in atmosphere. Here, the heat is fairly intense and life moves at a slower pace. Much of Colombian culture has of course been influenced by its Colonial invader, Spain. Not least of all owing to Catholicism that is still the prevailing religion and although younger Colombians are not the avid church-goers like their previous generations, people still go to mass, at least a few times a year and the sense of morality associated with Catholicism still lingers deeply whether or not people choose to believe or "obey" these religious laws. The ingrained work ethic runs very deep here and especially among the older generations, you notice how people are almost always working in some way or another. Communication has been slow or even fairly non-existent in Colombia for most of its history due to the logistic challenges of transportation. This is after all an Andean nation, fairly large in size with dense rain forest and an abundance of mountains that make transportation by land slow and almost impenetrable, at least until recently. Costs of road infrastructure are high and maintenance a constant battle due to land slides and flooding. There is of course a highly developed network of airports and domestic routes by air but prices remain fairly high relative to a lot of other countries. The effect of this has been that regions have in many ways held onto their own customs and traditions and even become somewhat insular and regionalist, especially Medellin and Antioquia. This is after all, the best place in the world... Colombian Art Famed for Fernando Botero and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there is much more to Colombian art that is very much alive in the culture, in daily life and everywhere. This is not to overly romanticize the artisan/ craft way of life but to sincerely point out that there is something rather unique in the culture. Colombians are as a people - bold statement here - very creative. How do I know this? Well, there's my wife. She's an artist, I hold an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute and there were plenty of Colombians at the university. It's more than that though - it's in the application of handmade crafts that is firmly grounded in the traditions of Colombian life and I believe that this is reflected in the work of artists of the more "officially" accepted caliber. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel Garcia Marquez known as one of the most important authors of the 20th Century is from Colombia - why not read his novels to get a greater understanding of Colombian culture?
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