Latin Expressions celebrates culture, community through dance, film, visual art, literature, and more
Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre joins forces with Vancouver International Film Festival, DanceHouse, Vancouver Writers Fest, and Museum of Anthropology at UBC for the month-long fest
Salome Nieto, Impermanent Flower. Photo by Carl Craig
Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre presents Latin Expressions in partnership with Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver Writers Fest, DanceHouse, and Museum of Anthropology at various venues from October 7 to November 5
IN 2018, THE federal government proclaimed October as Latin American Heritage Month to honour the cultural and artistic traditions of Canadians of Latin American origin. The mandate hits especially close to home for Lili Vieira de Carvalho, the Brazilian-born executive director of the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre.
“Latin American Heritage Month was created to highlight and celebrate the contributions of the Latin American community to Canadian society, and I think that, very much, that’s what we do every day at VLACC,” Vieira de Carvalho says in a phone interview with Stir. “It’s a way for us to bring Latin America’s contribution to the arts to the forefront and to really focus on the fact that there’s so much talent that comes from Latin America—and it’s just increasing by the day.
“We take pride in having become a hub or a point of reference for artists arriving in Canada from Latin America wanting to connect,” she adds, noting that in 2015, three years after the non-profit organization was formed, there were about 550 Latin American arts events taking place in Vancouver annually, all without a dedicated space or focal point. “That’s the purpose of our organization: to be an umbrella for all of those organizations…and to put a focus on Latin American artists, giving them a space to shine.”
Lili Vieira de Carvalho. Photo by Mauricio Simoes
As it marks its 10th anniversary, VLACC is presenting Latin Expressions, a month-long series of arts events, many of them free, presented in partnership with four of the city’s leading arts groups: the Vancouver International Film Festival; Vancouver Writers Fest; DanceHouse; and Museum of Anthropology.
Running October 7 to November 5, the celebration features film, dance, visual arts, literature, and music.
“We have this opportunity to share our lived experience of Latin America through the arts,” Vieira de Carvalho says. “With Latin Expressions, we are inviting more people to be part of this conversation.”
At VIFF, the Latin Expressions program is anchored by Fogaréu, the Canadian premiere of Brazilian director Flávia Neves’s feature debut. The filmmaker will be in attendance for a post-show Q&A at the October 7 screening, while the film also plays on October 9. (See here for Stir’s review.)
“Latin America is not even a geographical concept or a political one,” Vieira de Carvalho says. “It has anywhere from 20 countries to 32, depending on how you count them. It has so much diversity, yet at the same time so many points of contact, with many countries having gone through dictatorship or colonization. So when we watch something like Fogaréu, there’s so much intersectionality. It has all sorts of situations being played out related to colonization, to toxic masculinity… It’s universal in a Latin American way.”
Flávia Neves.
Also at VIFF, Latin Expressions presents Making Movies in the Americas (a free event October 9 at 10:30 am at VIFF Studio Theatre). Neves returns for a conversation with local Indigenous journalist Tina House about the challenges and opportunities of making films in the region as part of a minority group (including women and Indigenous and Latin American people). The speakers will discuss topics such as feminism, cultural traditions, colonization, and more. (See here to register.)
At the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, in association with its feature exhibition, Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers/Soñadores + creadores del cambio, a special edition of MOA’s Xicanx Speaks series takes place on October 15 from 2 to 4 pm (free with museum admission). Moderated by co-curator Jill Baird, the roundtable talk features Linda Vallejo and some of the other 33 self-identified Mexican American (Xicanx) artists who speak to issues such as racism, diversity, and identity in their work.
Linda Vallejo. Photo courtesy of the artist
Diálogo: A conversation about Latin American art in North America brings together artists and curators from MOA’s Xicanx: Dreamers + Changemakers / Soñadores + creadores del cambio with those from Volver (to return, to become). The latter is an exhibition of immigration-related viewpoints of Latin American artists in Vancouver taking place at CityScape Community ArtsSpace until November 12. The free event (October 16 from 12 to 2 pm at Monova in North Vancouver) features De Leon and Linda Vallejo from Xicanx alongside Vancouver-based curator Miret Rodriguez and local artists from the Volver exhibition.
Vancouver Writers Fest, meanwhile, is hosting Latin American Brilliance as part of Latin Expressions (October 19 at 8 pm at the Revue Stage on Granville Island). Ecuadorian writer Natalia García Freire (This World Does Not Belong to Us) appears in conversation with Claudia Castro Luna, an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow, Washington State Poet Laureate, and Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet. Luna is author of Cipota under the Moon, a collection of poems written as an ode to the Salvadoran immigrant experience in the United States. Both authors will discuss the writing process and finding hope in unlikely places; they’ll also share their thoughts on authors to watch in Latin American literature. The talk is moderated by Vancouver-based Chilean-Canadian author Carmen Rodríguez.
Rodríguez and Freire team up anew for Latin Expressions Short Stories Reading Group (October 21 at 7 pm at Britannia Community Centre’s Rink Rink Mezzanine, 55+). There will be readings, discussions, and a participatory creative writing exercise.
In Bailando (October 27, 7 pm to 8:30 pm at UBC Robson Square Theatre C300) DanceHouse and VLACC ask: “What is the Latin American dance scene in Vancouver?”. Francesca Piscopo and Danais Yera will lead the free panel discussion with dancers Salome Nieto (whose Impermanent Flower is pictured at top), Davi Rodrigues (Lamondance), Luis Garcia (Nahualli Folklore) and Sonia Medel. There’s a chance to mingle after the talk.
Sal Ferreras.
Bringing Latin Expressions to a jubilant close is Puerto Rico: Roots and Rhythms Gala Concert (November 4 and 5 at 8 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse). Puerto Rican percussion legend Sal Ferreras leads an all-star 10-piece band in a blend of pop, jazz, folk, and more. An inductee in the BC Hall of Fame, Ferreras is a virtuoso musician, producer, composer, and educator who has performed on Juno- and Grammy-winning recordings with everyone from k.d. lang to Chicago.
“Sal is our Elder,” Vieira de Carvalho says. “He’s such an active Latin American artist in our community. He’s a thinker and makes the best connections. He has been wanting to do something like this for a long time: to provide a deeper understanding of Latin American arts. We don’t do programming for entertainment alone; we always strive to add a deeper understanding of Latin American arts, and he’s the best person to do that. He’s an amazing multi-instrumentalist, but he is also an educator.”
Vieira de Carvalho is as excited about Latin Expressions as she is about what lies ahead. VLACC is hoping to move into the new Britannia Community Centre when it’s ready, with plans for a 20,000-square-foot cultural and community hub for the local Latin American population.
“I love that we can make connections between people,” Vieira de Carvalho says. “That’s what drives me every day—creating opportunities for Latin American arts and spaces for Latin American artists to do what they do best.”
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