The Banco de la República has opened a new exhibition at the Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU) in Bogotá titled "Francis Alÿs, juegxs de niñxs 1999–2025." Featuring 27 video works from the Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist's long-running series documenting children's games worldwide, the show opened on April 23 at El Parqueadero and the second floor of MAMU. Curated by Cuauhtémoc Medina and Virginia Roy, the exhibition includes footage from Afghanistan, India, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Colombia, where a new work filmed in the Amazon with the Arara community is featured.
The exhibition matters because it reframes children's play as a form of social architecture—a lens through which to observe how societies function, negotiate rules, and build community. At a time when children are increasingly indoors and screen-focused, Alÿs's archive spanning more than two decades and five continents offers a powerful counterpoint, revealing how play persists across conflict zones, poverty, and displacement. The show connects Alÿs's long-standing artistic preoccupations with borders, migration, and urban fragility to the universal yet deeply unequal experience of childhood, making it both a poignant cultural document and a timely social commentary.