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Artistic statement Reviews CV |
"I believe that every artistic effort to help create awareness of little known cultures is necessary. I believe that my mission as an artist is to speak about the cultural and social issues that concern me. Some of the issues I have been concerned since I started my career are those overshadowing women and minority's impact within a larger society or in a family."
Testimonials
Dra. Cecilia Hernández de Mendoza Pepe Vargas Catalina Laserna
"Con verdadero placer ví el video que me mandaste 'En búsqueda de memoria.' Comprendo el gran esfuezo que tuviste que hacer para realizarlo y para llegar a una magnífica presentación de la Colonia de Guapí. Memorable trabajo éste de valiosísima información para la antropología colombiana."
[ "It was with great pleasure that I saw your video 'in Search of Memory.' I see the struggles you had to undergo in order to produce it and to accomplish an outstanding presentation of Guapi. It is an unforgettable work which contains most valuable information for Colombia's anthropology." ]
- Dra. Cecilia Hernández de Mendoza, Instituto Caro y Cuervo
Honorbale Member, Director of the Departament of Hispanoamerican Literature
Santa Fé de Bogotá, Febrero 1, 2001
"The perception North Americans have towards Latin America is an issue we have always been interested in. Ms. Navas' project is a clear demonstrator of North American and worldwide interest in Hispanic culture, as well as a means of educating worldwide audiences about an overlooked aspect of Latin America - the African Diaspora. It is works like this that help promote Latino culture by educating diverse audiences on Latin American art and civilization, while entertaining through the widely accepted medium of film."
- Pepe Vargas, Executive Director
The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago
March 1, 1999 - Chicago
"...Mazamorreo: in Search of Memory accomplishes the goal to encourage cultural understanding by showing a semi-urban reality of the Pacific lowlands of Colombia. By addressing crucial topics of the reality of Afro-Colombian communities - the isolation from the rest of the country, the need for recognition of their ancestry, the actual living conditions, and the women-based movement striving to recover the traditions - the documentary achieves its humanistic goal of highlighting the cultural contributions of this particular cultural group in the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Given Colombia's current dire political and social situation, it is important for Colombians and non-Colombians alike to have positive images on this part of society."
- Catalina Laserna, Ph.D.
Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Acted as the Project Evaluator for the 1999 Illinois Humanities Council grant awarded to "Mazamorreo: in Search of Memory"
August, 2000