Our Blog
The VLACC blog provides more information about current programs through posts developed by participating artists
Our Re:Location series of videos provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of master Latin American artists who have relocated to Canada. These blog posts zoom in on the featured artists, in their own words. Read them before you watch, or after, for a new, deeper perspective.
Chile 50 years – Gary Cristall
Fifty years ago today, I was packing to take an afternoon flight to Santiago, Chile. I was on vacation on Bowen Island, it being summer here and winter there. I had been living in Chile for a year, working as a freelance print and photo journalist. Word was that Allende was going to make a key speech on September 18th, calling for a referendum and I wanted to be back by then. I had the radio on and there was a brief news item- “The Chilean army has given President Salvador Allende five minutes to surrender!” and then on to sports. That’s what I remember. It was like a physical blow. Read more
Rembering the Future – Carmen Rodríguez
If I had been a diviner – capable of foreseeing the future, perhaps I would’ve appreciated some of my young life experiences much more fully. Perhaps. But back then, I was just a wide-eyed teen-ager – a first-year university student living in the big city for the first time, away from my family, and more than ready to enjoy my newly-found freedom. Read more
Josema Zamorano
As always happens in cases of immigration, you arrive in a new country, and it will take time for you to be part of the new environment. For me, the community has played a fundamental piece in getting anywhere as an artist in Canada. Doing collective projects with others has always opened new possibilities and lots of learning for me. I was a grad student at UBC, and this connected me to the Cuban artist Manuel Piña who loves getting people together for the party fun and for exploring new projects. This allowed me to engage with an amazing artistic gang, many of them but not all Latin Americans. Read More
Carmen Rodriguez
1973. Rumours of a military coup have been spreading for weeks, but the bombing of the presidential palace, Salvador Allende’s murder and the violent overthrow of his socialist government catch the majority of Chileans off guard. The horror that begins the spring morning of September 11 goes beyond anyone’s imagination.
Sal Ferreras
In the Spanish language the English verb “to be” is translated with the two distinct verbs, ser and estar.
The verb ser denotes to be, to exist and experience oneself as distinct from others, not to emphasize our uniqueness but as a simple point of perspective. We “are” therefore we see the outside world from within. We know that we are conscious humans while recognizing we are part of something much bigger. We know instinctively that we are individuals within a greater sphere.
Carmen Aguirre
I arrived in Vancouver as a child, the daughter of Chilean exiles who were political refugees fleeing Pinochet’s right-wing coup. It was the early 1970s and we were the first visible Latinx community in Canada. There was no Latin American art movement in this country. But I knew I wanted to be an actor, from the age of three when my parents took me to the circus, and since the time of Salvador Allende’s socialist government, when my mother joined a popular theatre troupe.Rosario Ancer
I moved from the small town of my childhood, to the city of my teens, to the Spain of my dreams and then to Canada where I settled with my Vancouverite husband and artistic partner Victor Kolstee. I’m a Mexican artist who adopted a Spanish art form and practice in Canada. Re:Location is a project funded by:
Digital Now – a Canada Council for the Arts digital innovation initiative
