Chilean-Canadian poet, author, educator, and activist Carmen Rodríguez named honorary elder by Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre
The award recognizes her key role in developing the Latin American community here
Carmen Rodgriguez. Photo by Felipe Fittipaldi
THE VANCOUVER LATIN American Cultural Centre is naming Carmen Rodríguez as its Honorary Elder. The Chilean-Canadian poet, author, poet, educator, and political activist will be inducted on March 8, International Women’s Day.
Rodríguez has been a key figure in developing the Latin American community in Vancouver.
She came to Canada after fleeing her native Chile following the violent coup of 1973. She’s participated in musical ensembles, organized art exhibitions and conferences, and collaborated with the La Quena Collective (which founded the first Latin American cultural centre in Vancouver).
Her time as part of Aquelarre, a bilingual magazine published by Latin American feminists in Vancouver, preceded her creating multiple collections of stories, novels and poems in English and Spanish.
“Indigenous and other societies rooted in a harmonious relationship with nature and collaboration among humans do value their elders,” Rodríguez said in today’s announcement, referring to her title as “elder”. “Given the dire state of today's world, I think we could all benefit from slowing down and reconsidering our ways of being and working on this planet. Elders can help us to do that as they can bring the lessons of the past into the present and assist us in envisioning and shaping a better future for all.”
“We are thrilled to offer Carmen Rodríguez a title that truly fits the role of advisor that she has been playing for VLACC for many years,” Lili Vieira de Carvalho, VLACC’s executive director, said in the announcement. “Carmen is already our valued sounding board—someone we rely on for well-balanced perspectives and historical context. We look forward to making her knowledge available to new generations of Latin Americans in Vancouver and elsewhere.”
Since 2012, VLACC has been pursuing the goal of creating a new Latin American cultural centre—a physical creative hub for the work of Latin American artists and organizations.
“It's been roughly 46 years since Latin Americans first established a cultural and artistic presence in Vancouver,” Rodríguez said today. “I see VLACC as the culmination of a dream/plan of gathering Latin American cultural workers under one roof and then opening this hub’s doors to all the communities that make Vancouver the diverse and exciting place it is. VLACC has been able to not only reach audiences but also artists working in a variety of disciplines — artists that have excelled in their own countries and in Canada. At the same time, it is important to look back at the past and to the history that has brought us to this place.”
As part of Carmen’s induction, VLACC commissioned a set of portraits by multiple-award-winning Felipe Fittipaldi, a Brazilian-born photojournalist based in Vancouver.
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