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On March 25, 2020, Colombia closed its borders to Europe for the first time since 1499, when the first Spanish expedition had landed on its shores.

On April 6, 2020, former President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump signed an executive order, titled "Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources," opening the way to the mining of the Moon for minerals, as well as additional mining of Mars. A similar order was signed by Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1492.

Throughout 2020, hundreds of public monuments depicting colonists were toppled across the continent.

These events were future, present, and now past. They travel on ships. Enabled by a journey to the present and permeated by the future, they encounter with other possibilities of the past; the possibility of return.

Mario Santanilla’s practice is concerned with the optics of being. Guided by research on architecture, light-based technologies, and storytelling, he explores how these devices condition behavior and represent social realities. Santanilla’s work has been presented at Reliable Copy, Bangalore (2020); Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2019-2020); Espacio Odeón, Bogotá (2018–2019); ArteCámara & Ciclo Prisma, ARTBO, Bogotá (2016 and 2017); and FLORA ars+natura, Bogotá (2013 and 2017); among others. He also participated in the 2017-18 Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan, Beirut and the 2016 Escuela Flora at Flora ars+natura, Bogotá. He holds a BFA from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Bogotá.