In 2026, Medellín celebrates with emotion and reverence the 50th anniversary of the Corporación Cultural Canchimalos, an organization that, more than a cultural project, has become a home for the inner child we all carry within us and a path to finding meaning through art, play, and community.  

Since its founding in 1976, Canchimalos has flourished as an unwavering commitment to bienvivir (living well), to human dignity, and to authentic encounters with our deepest forms of knowledge. In every workshop, every dance, and every expression, this Corporation has sown seeds of joy, curiosity, identity, and freedom that today have taken root in generations of artists, families, and transformed citizens.  

What distinguishes Canchimalos is its understanding of art not as a distant product, but as a life experience that touches bodies, hearts, and collective memories. Its Integral Artistic School opens its doors to people from “0 to 100 years old,” inviting them to understand that playing is learning, growing, and building meaning together with others.  

Over these fifty years, Canchimalos has been a space to recover and revalue our popular culture, to build bridges between generations, to reimagine traditions, and to make Medellín a city that does not forget how to play, how to dance, how to sing, and how to look toward the future with hope and creativity.  

In recent years, initiatives such as the Scenic Memory Laboratory have delved deeper into the richness of the works, gestures, and learnings accumulated since 1976, understanding memory as a living archive and a source of new paths to explore.  

In recent years, initiatives such as the Scenic Memory Laboratory have delved deeper into the richness of the works, gestures, and learnings accumulated since 1976, understanding memory as a living archive and a source of new paths to explore. Fraternidad Medellín, acompañar a Canchimalos desde 2022, ha significado reconocer en su trayectoria una fuerza transformadora sin igual: una manera distinta de creer en las personas, en sus capacidades creativas y en la cultura como instrumento de dignidad y paz. Celebrar los 50 años de Canchimalos es celebrar la posibilidad de que cada vida pueda ser tejida con arte, alegría y sentido. 

Today we celebrate half a century of stories that beat with life, of shared embraces, of learnings that endure, and of dreams set alight. May the next 50 years continue to be a collective song, a constant game, an endless dance of hope for Medellín, Colombia, and all the places where playfulness and art make the impossible possible.