While US-style skyscrapers dominate the affluent part of much of the Northern Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, colourful one-story colonial houses are the hallmark of the Santa Lucía neighbourhood. They give the impression of having been frozen in a bygone era. Most of its contemporary residents are poor, and they used to be forgotten by the authorities. It was against this backdrop that Hamburg-based, Venezuelan-born artist Clemencia Labin launched an unusual arts festival at the beginning of the millenium.