Memories for the Soul
Vancouver Edition
Project Description
Following the success of Memories for the Soul in Surrey, we brought the project to Vancouver to continue offering a safe and creative space for Latin American women.
In this edition, we welcomed artist Clarissa Banos, who introduced painting, and Natalia Botero, through photography. Together, they offered participants new tools to explore and express their past, present, and future memories.
The project nurtures healing, resilience, and community through art, while building strong networks of support among immigrant women.
Objectives:
Connect with memories – Participants revisited their past, reflecting on both meaningful and challenging moments they had shared with others.
Tell stories through art – With photography and painting, they created works that helped them narrate their own stories and make invisible memories visible.
Heal and build community – Through colors and images, women transformed pain into resilience, finding strength and support together
Project team
Clarissa Banos, a Salvadoran visual artist, creates bold, vibrant paintings inspired by Latin American culture, folklore, and the traditions of indigenous women. With a BFA and MFA, she has over 25 years of experience. Her work has been exhibited globally and is in private collections worldwide.
She collaborated in Memories for the Soul – Vancouver, sharing her knowledge of painting and providing strong support to the participants.
Clarissa Banos - Guest Artist
Natalia is a Colombian photographer, visual artist, and researcher with 30 years of experience. Her work focuses on photojournalism and documentary projects about Forced Disappearance, victims of armed conflict, and their families.
She created and led the Memories for the Soul workshops, inspired by her own experience as a refugee and her many years of professional work
Natalia Botero
Fiorella Pinillos, Giuliana Lira, and Pamela Gutiérrez were integral parts of the team. On this occasion, Fiorella supported the curation, planning, and organization of the process; Giuliana supported the planning and organization, especially in outreach; and Pamela supported the organization and audiovisual recording of the sessions. Together, we helped make the project as welcoming and comfortable as possible for the participants.
La Libélula Members
