Canada’s Latin American population has grown recently, with more than 1.1 million people making up the country’s Hispanic population — about 51,000 of whom live in Metro Vancouver. What Lili Vieira de Carvalho, executive director of Vancouver’s Latin American Cultural Center, wants people to see is the great diversity that exists within the demographic.
“The diversity is incredible,” the Rio de Janeiro native tells Stir in a phone interview. “When I was in Brazil, I would never be in the same room with eight or 10 people from different parts of Latin America. We have an opportunity here in Canada to express our Latin American character and expose ourselves to each other. We want people to see and learn about this Latin American art scene because it really adds a scene.”
One way art lovers can get their fill of all things Latin American is by checking out the Vancouver Mural Festival 2024. In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, VLACC is curating and hosting Fiesta Plural, a one-day Mount Pleasant Street Party celebration event on August 11, featuring up and coming Latinx artists who specialize in dance, music and visual art.
For an idea of the diversity on display, consider the participating group Las Empanadas Ilegales. Its members trace their roots to Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Brazil, and they mix everything from jazz to psychedelic surf and salsa into their music. Another act, Dayshade, performs in Spanish, French and English, with nationalities from Colombia, Guyana, Mexico, the UK and Canada. Singer-songwriter-pianist Mai Garnica combines rock with folk and Argentinian Latin sounds. Peruvian-Canadian DJ and sound artist Millie Wissar explores Latin bass rhythms and experimental techno with influences from cumbia, salsa and Andean beats. Brazilian singer and songwriter Sara Magal fuses samba, bossa nova, forro, jazz and other styles into her music.
These are just a few of the 30 artists that VLACC is presenting at this year’s Vancouver Mural Fest. Other creations that make up Fiesta Plural include Irvin Hernandez, who hails from Zacatecas, Mexico and will be painting live; Brazilian dance artist Ysadora Dias, who is trained in ballet, contemporary dance and capoeira; and MNGWA (pronounced ming-wa), a party band that mixes cumbia and salsa with psych rock, reggae, funk and more and whose members hail from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Russia, Ukraine, France and Japan. Then there is Te Quiero LatinX, whose goal is to unite the Latino community through roller skating.
VLACC will present artists on the VMF Main Stage and all female performers on the Oasis Stage, including Colombian musician Yesenia Flórez, dancer Dias and DJ Wissar.
