Workshop House
In 1970, Victor Delfin undertook the reconstruction of an old Tudor-style mansion in Barranquilla, then abandoned and about to be demolished. Far from seeing it as a simple dwelling, Delfín imagined it as a space open to culture.A meeting place, a place of creation and hospitality for other artists. Thus, with the support of some companies and thanks to his own efforts, he transformed the ruin into a living center of artistic expression and collective thought.
Since its inauguration in October 1970, the Casa Taller functioned as a gallery, lodging, cultural forum and workshop. It would host exhibitions, recitals, conferences and artistic meetings of various kinds. Delfín even planned to implement a library, a cinema-club and a theater space. Although some of these initiatives were diluted over time, its spirit of openness and commitment to art and the community remained constant.
An example of this was the Contemporary Crafts Fair organized just two months after opening the house, in collaboration with the Barranco Municipal Council. The artists were welcomed into their own home and were provided with space and tools to produce the pieces they later exhibited in a public square in the district.
Beyond its architectural value, the Casa Taller Delfín is the result of an act of cultural recovery and resistance. The House is a living testimony to the ideals of solidarity, creative freedom and transformative vocation that have marked the artist's life and work. As a chronicler of the time pointed out, opening that house to art and to others demanded, in addition to strength, a renunciation of selfishness: a lesson in artistic generosity that remains valid to this day.
Preserve the House
The preservation of the Casa Taller was one of the reasons that gave rise to the Casa Taller Delfín Civil Association. The work encompasses not only the building, but also the works, documents, photographs, library, objects, and other materials that remain linked to the space and allow for an understanding of its history.
Toward the future
The Association works to ensure the continuity of the House-Workshop and to make progressive headway in its documentation, conservation, and public access. The objective is to preserve its character as a place of creation and memory, and to generate the conditions so that it can be studied and known by future generations.