The J. León Helguera and Manuel Zapata Olivella collections, in addition to Vanderbilt’s Colombian travel accounts, are all invaluable resources that narrate Colombia’s rich and complex cultural, social, and political histories in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first exhibit of Vanderbilt’s Colombiana illustrates Colombia’s profound regional differences in geography and culture, as evidenced through its transportation conditions in rural Colombia to the cosmopolitan lifestyle in Bogotá. The second exhibit displays Colombia’s most renowned figures in early modern history, from political leaders to anthropologists, students, and novelists.
Urban and Rural Lifestyles: Transportation and Entertainment in 19th Century Colombia