GUEST ARTISTS
Malcolm Aiken, Artist Director
Malcolm Aiken is an award-winning trumpet player, music producer and record label-owner based in Vancouver, Canada. His specialties include: music production—live and studio—, music performance, music business, marketing, arts management, music promotion and distribution, leadership, business development, and arts industry consultant.
As a trumpet player, Malcolm leads several groups, and performs regularly as a featured soloist with orchestras, jazz big bands and experimental music projects, and has appeared in concerts and festivals in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and throughout Asia. In 2010 he co-founded TrebleFive (www.treblefive.com), a Canadian world/jazz record label where he currently works as music producer, ethnomusicologist and in A&R development.
Paula Barragan, Graphic Designer
Artist and graphic designer from Quito, Ecuador, Paula Barragan Miller obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design and illustration at the renowned Pratt Institute in New York (1986). As a graphic designer, since 1986 she has maintained her own workshop in Quito, Ecuador where she designs logos, posters, illustrations, books covers, tapestry and much more.
But her most important body of work has been created in various forms, including painting, engraving, and drawing. She reinterprets ordinary and quotidian experiences in mystical and heightened ways. Her evocative and complex works which draw inspiration from Latin-American roots have appeared in myriads of international galleries and exhibitions.
She has participated in collective and individual exhibitions in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, the United States, Spain, and China. She is best known for her individual exhibitions in Multiple Impressions NYC (1999, 2002 and 2005) and appearing in galleries in Chicago (2014), Seattle (2009) and New York (2014 and 2016), in the United States; in galleries in Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil, in Ecuador (2000-2018); as well as in Lima, Peru (2010). She is a permanent artist in the Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Washington and in the TransFORM Gallery in New York City.
The Latin Recording Academy named Paula Barragan as official artist for the 19th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards. She has won five first-place prizes in engraving, design and illustration. She was selected for exchange and residency in Galeries Kunst und Form and Am Pratter, Berlin (1995), for the project “Learning Through Art” in the Guggenheim Museum in New York (2000-2005), and for an artist residency in Salamanca, Spain in Alfara Studio (2017).
Rosario Ancer, Artistic Director/Choreographer
After a successful career in Spain, Rosario Ancer and her Vancouverite husband, the guitarist Victor Kolstee, moved to Vancouver in 1989 where they co-founded their school Centro Flamenco, the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, The Flamenco Rosario Arts Society (Flamenco Rosario) and its Professional Training Program.
Called by the press “The mother of flamenco in Vancouver”, she received the 2009 Isadora Award for Excellence in Choreography for the creation of “Mis Hermanas” and for her contributions in bringing excellence in dance to British Columbia. As one who captures Vancouver’s rich history and culture making a significant contribution to the creative life in the city, she was honoured with the 2012 Mayor’s Arts Award in Dance. She captured the prestigious and esteemed 2016 Lola Award given by The Dance Centre, for her unflagging dedication to flamenco innovation, pursued through multidisciplinary collaborations and a progressive exploration and deconstruction of the form. In 2012, she received a nomination for the Inspirational Latin Award for the Arts, and also a nomination for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Arts and Culture in 2001. In 2010, her award-winning work “Mis Hermanas” toured internationally in Mexico, while in 2013 the work was toured in British Columbia and the Yukon as part of Made In B.C. touring initiatives for contemporary dance. Her work “La Monarca” toured British Columbia in the spring of 2018.
Gloria Bernal, Art Coordinator for Art Exhibition and Art Plaza of CSOL
As an art curator and exhibition producer, Gloria Bernal has been involved in art all her life. Areas of special interest include intersections between art and science, social issues, and multiple disciplines. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Marketing; an Entertainment Business Management Diploma from Vancouver Film School; and an Anthropology and Art: Museum and Globalization Diploma from Goldsmiths, University in London.
She is currently studying “How to Become an Independent Curator” at Central Saint Martin, London, where she is on the process on making an exhibition based on Gilles Deleuze, a French philosopher.
Gloria Bernal is an independent curator and writes art reviews and essays for blogs. She has developed her own business as an independent curator. Bernal also served as Director of Exhibitions of Lab Art Exhibition, hosting over 150 artists from around the globe at numerous venues (Roundhouse, Chinese Cultural Center, Charity Hall, etc.) in Vancouver from 2011 to 2018. During that time she managed the exhibitions programs which included juried, curated, and invitational exhibitions, featuring the work of international and national artists. The exhibitions were often augmented with lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and multidisciplinary events.
Bernal has also worked in various exhibitions for Latincouver. Some exhibitions include: Canadian and Latin American Aboriginal 2016 at Waterfall Building, Urban Exhibition as part of Carnaval del Sol at Concord Pacific, and Latino American Award Exhibition featuring artwork from international artists who have been influenced by Latin American culture.
Other exhibitions as curator are: Piano Exhibition 2015 at Art Works Gallery, Sistine Chapel 3D Exhibition 2014 at Art Works Gallery, One Colour Exhibition 2013 at Open Space Gallery, and Expressions 2013 outdoor exhibition by Vancouver Art Gallery.
Julie Ali, Project Coordinator for “Travelling Back to Our Afro-Latin American Roots” music workshop
Julie Ali is a marketing specialist with over 15 years of industry experience. When she entered the world of marketing and communications, she opened another door of capoeira at the same time. She began working as professional at BCIT where she happened to come across an “Intro to Capoeira” class offered at the school, and the rest is what dreams are made of. Since that time Julie has evolved to become a professional-level performer, enthusiast and advocate of Afro-Brazilian arts.
She is currently the president of the Afro-Brazilian Cultural Society which works to promote, endorse and celebrate Afro-Brazilian culture.
