Guatemala has never been an easy place to think about ourselves in a critical way. Perhaps that explains how paradoxical is the fact that its current artistic production is of a disconcerting richness. After an armed conflict which ended in 1996, and a transition to a postwar era, the few governmental and academic institutions devoted to culture, art and the study of these disciplines, continue to wear out in a non stopped political, economical, social and citizen crisis. The same has influenced artistic training, research and the exercise of critical thinking. After all, a 36-year war leaves wounds and traces of all kind. This has produced a disconnection between the common citizen with the forms and languages of art in general, and contemporary art in particular. Rebuilding and anchoring bridges is one of the great challenges that the Proyecto LAICA has decided to face.