Patricia Ariza speaks on “Women in Times of War: Social Justice Through Artistic Expression”

02/18/2008

Patricia Ariza, an expert in engaged theater related to women and the context of civil war, speaks at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 in the Alumni Lounge, Saint John’s University, Collegeville.

Ariza speaks on “Women in Times of War: Social Justice Through Artistic Expression.” Her speech, a preliminary celebration of Women’s Month activities in March at the College of Saint Benedict, is free and open to the public.

Although Ariza, a native of Colombia, will speak in Spanish, her talk will be translated to English.

As a child, Ariza was one of a million refugees displaced from Bogota during Colombia’s civil war. Later, while attending a university, she initiated student involvement in women’s and social issues through artistic expression. Upon graduating, she produced independent theater, and in 1966 co-founded Colombia’s first alternative theater group, Teatro La Candelaria.

That was the first of many groups she has either founded or directed, including the Festival of Women on Stage, the Cultural Theatre Movement, the Colombian Theatre Corporation, the National Festival of New Theatre and the Festival of Alternative Theatre.

Ariza has formulated a special approach to theater that promotes social interaction and thereby reduces conflict. In her model, a specific group makes use of testimony and re-enactment to develop a script centered on the issues in their collective life. Personal experience is then transformed into matter for public dialogue through performance.

She has been honored for her work, including the 2007 Prince Claus Award. Over the decades, Ariza has empowered the disadvantaged – especially women – enabling them to transform their lives through cultural activities, to counteract injustice and restore social memory. She has also been cited for her commitment to the reduction of conflict.

Her speech is sponsored by the Hispanic Studies department at CSB and SJU; the State of Iberoamerican Studies Series, founded in 1995 by the University of Minnesota department of Spanish and Portuguese studies; the Sister Nancy Hynes Center for Women at CSB; and the Spanish Club at CSB and SJU.

Women’s Month began in the 1970s at CSB, and is a month to focus and reflect on the contributions and challenges by women past, present and future to our local, national and global societies. The month is sponsored by the CSB Student Senate, working with the Sister Nancy Hynes Center for Women.