I have good reason to celebrate because my most desired professional project, Contenidos Artísticos, emerged nine years ago just this month. Therefrom I have proposed to investigate, design, produce, manage, direct, program and disseminate projects with an emphasis on the performing arts.
A little history. After 10 years of working in a public institution of culture, I ventured into an independent working life and realized that I needed to build an administrative and fiscal infrastructure, and a firm that could represent me and other colleagues I was collaborating with. I named it thinking about what I was doing and what I wanted to do: generating artistic content.
I was born in León, Guanajuato, but five years ago I moved to Chicago, Illinois, where I brought the firm thinking of achieving a permanent cultural exchange between Mexico and the United States. And ever since its foundation in February 2012, Contenidos Artísticos has been transforming and expanding its horizons.
I decided to celebrate with the launch of a Mentoring Program for women who are entering the cultural management field of the performing arts. I am going to give free advice to women from Mexico and the United States specifically from the BIPOC community, that is, blacks, indigenous people and people of color (including Latinxs as well as Asian women). I will put them in contact with specialists and colleagues who promote their development.
So my way of commemorating involves contributing to professionalize the cultural sector and assume my social responsibility. This program will be permanent and anyone who is interested in getting my support and feedback can contact me directly: cristinavazquez@contenidosartistico.c
In addition, I scheduled three activities for the ninth anniversary of Contenidos Artísticos through Facebook Live https://www.facebook.com/ContenidosArtisticos: two talks and a puppet workshop for children. The first conversation took place on February 16 with producer Leah Keith to discuss How does the performing arts industry function in America?
The role of the performing arts and women within the creative industries will be the subject of the second talk in which my guests will be, economist Ernesto Piedras and international cultural manager Alesha Mercado, on February 25 at 6:00 p.m. (CST), 19 hours (EST) and 16 hours (PST).
For children, I will offer the Puppets and Shadows workshop by Manual Cinema, a US multimedia company characterized by its handmade puppets and the combination of cinematographic techniques with innovative music and sounds to create powerful visual stories for both scene and screen. On Saturday 27 at 12 noon (CST), 1 pm (EST) and 10 am (PST).
The Bridge, which has been my publishing house, in which I publish this opinion column twice a month, in English and Spanish, to reflect my work of more than two decades dedicated to the cultural development of Mexico and its international projection, could not be left out of the celebration.
This portal, which emerged from the initiative of two talented and experienced Mexican journalists Gabriel Ramírez and Cynthia Basulto, will broadcast a series of one minute video profiles in which Latinx women will speak about their achievements in the performing arts.
Among the participants are the cultural managers Claudia Norman, Ireri Mugica, Erandi Fajardo, Franky Piña, Mercedes Caxaj and myself, as well as cultural journalist Catalina María Johnson, programmer Katia Nilo and Anna Amadei, vice president of Elsie Management, agency for artistic representation.
One of my greatest achievements in these nine years has been my appointment, in January 2020, as the first Mexican woman to be part of the Board of Directors of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP).
My work at APAP has focused on the inclusion of a greater number of Latinxs as members of this association and also as participants in the annual conference that the organization holds based in New York every January, its latest 64th edition, being held virtually.
One of my main purposes, on the Board of Directors of APAP, is to encourage the presentation of Mexican solo artists and groups in the United States to reach audiences interested in seeing quality productions that go beyond folklore.
I now receive training from APAP in the policy of Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI). This approach arose in the United States in the face of the recognition of racial discrimination and white supremacy, in a multicultural environment, in search of a society where everyone can participate and prosper. Moving from dialogue and intention to action, by listening and taking into account the variety of ideas and values
I am currently studying the Postgraduate Course in International Cultural Cooperation and Management at the University of Barcelona, which is linked to REDI, as it is based on the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005), which at the same time, it is committed to achieving the goals set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations Agenda for 2030, such as gender equality, the reduction of inequalities, peace and justice
For this reason, at Contenidos Artísticos I start from an inclusive approach, since interculturality and the gender perspective run transversally in my work. I open routes to recognize and value diversity. Cultural exchange sustains my artistic programming and my foundation is collaborative work.
In these nine years I have worked with the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) the Mexican National Dance Company, National Opera Company and the National Theater Coordination. And since 2016 I have collaborated permanently with the Cultural Institute of León in various programming and production projects, such as the León National Book Fair (FENAL) and the International Contemporary Art Festival (FIACmx).
I have worked with Fuse, based in Italy, with Colombian company Sankofa Danzafro, the Tania Pérez-Salas Company, poet Rojo Córdova, light artist Víctor Zapatero, with Manual Cinema and Laleget Danza, among many other groups and soloists.
I hope you can be part of some of the commemorative activities that I have prepared with effort and heart and that you wish, together with me, a long life to Contenidos Artísticos towards its first decade celebration.
Cristina Vázquez, director of Contenidos Artísticos Production and Diffusion, is a cultural manager, programmer and producer. One of her main purposes is to promote the circulation of the Performing Arts.
Mexican, from the city of León, she graduated from the Communication Sciences career and continued her training as a cultural manager with studies from the National Council for Culture and the Arts and in 17, the Institute of Critical Studies, where she obtained the Cultural Management Certificate from the Critical Entrepreneurship.
Cristina Vázquez has the strong conviction that going to meet new viewers, both in Mexico and in the United States and other countries, contributes to fighting stereotypes, opening new communication channels and forming communities.
Her quest is to create lasting relationships between audiences, artists and institutions. The expansion of audiences, she thinks, generates knowledge and understanding among the inhabitants of this global village.
In 2012 she founded Contenidos Artísticos, a firm dedicated to the programming, production and dissemination of artistic and cultural projects, based in Mexico, which is complemented, since 2015, with Contenidos Artísticos INC, based in Chicago, Illinois.
With the multidisciplinary collaboration of important allies, Cristina Vázquez advised the Municipality of Zacatecas in the elaboration of its Cultural Development Plan and coordinated the National Book Fair (Fenal) from 2006 to 2009. Since 2016, she has been collaborating permanently with the Cultural Institute of León in various programming and production projects.
She was a programmer at the Teatro del Bicentenario in León, has worked with the Teatro Juárez in Guanajuato and developed and operated the urban meeting “Todo sobre Ruelas” in Zacatecas.
In addition, in 2012 and 2013 she produced and programmed the José Alfredo Jiménez International Festival, which pays tribute to the great Mexican icon and singer-songwriter, in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.
Since 2013 she works for the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL). She has produced and coordinated important projects with the Mexican National Ballet Company having as headquarters the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Juárez Theater, during the Cervantino Festival, as well as with the National Opera Company and the National Theater Coordination. In 2019, she began a collaboration with the National Center for the Arts (CENART) by producing the International Black and White Piano Festival.
In 2018, she made alliances with agencies in the United States for the circulation of the performing arts in Mexico. This is how she presented Fuse, a group based in Italy, with its multimedia performance Dökk and the Colombian company Sankofa Danzafro with its acclaimed show La ciudad de los otros.
Through Contenidos Artísticos INC, the production agency, for the past five years she has focused on bicultural work between Mexico and the United States. Her work has been to find spaces for Mexican artists to present themselves on the other side of the border, while contributing to the construction of an image of Mexican culture and art that transcends the folkloric.
In 2017 she introduced the Mexican poet Rojo Córdoba, who worked with Spoken Word groups, in Chicago. And the following year she promoted three Mexican bands: Troker, electronic jazz; Doble Redoble, contemporary cumbia, and Sonido Gallo Negro, a psychedelic cumbia group for which she organized a tour in the United States. This in conjunction with various Latino festivals and organizations in Chicago, such as the Mole de Mayo Festival. Thanks to these alliances, she has produced tours for artists from Chicago and other cities in the United States in Mexico.
During November 2018, she invited Mexican programmers to see, both in Chicago and New York, the work of Manual Cinema, a multidisciplinary company that combines cinematographic techniques with shadow theater, sound and music to create immersive experiences.
She co-produces the Tania Pérez-Salas Company since 2018. During 2019 she worked on the organization of their tour through Mexico, the United States and Canada, which would take place in the following year.
As of January 20, 2020, Vázquez is the first Mexican woman to be part of the Board of Directors of the Association of Professionals for the Performing Arts (APAP), which emerged in 1957 in the United States and is a world leader in this cultural field. One of their main tasks is to participate and promote REDI (Racial Equity Diversity and Inclusion) policies.
The great pragmatism and permanent professionalism of Cristina Vázquez has allowed her to contribute to the artistic and cultural development of Mexico and its international projection.
Versión en español
Cristina Vázquez, directora de Contenidos Artísticos Producción y Difusión, es gestora cultural, programadora y productora. Uno de sus propósitos principales es fomentar la interculturalidad a través de la circulación de las artes.
Concibe la interculturalidad como el encuentro, la interacción y reconstrucción de las distintas culturas locales. En palabras del experto argentino Carlos Moneta, permite comparar formas de vida y establecer comunicaciones portadoras de imágenes, valores y contenidos que afectan las identidades más allá de la nacionalidad.
En 2012 fundó Contenidos Artísticos, firma dedicada a la programación, producción y difusión de proyectos artísticos y culturales, con sede en México, que se complementa, desde 2015, con Contenidos Artísticos INC, con sede en Chicago, Illinois.
A través de Contenidos Artísticos INC, la agencia productora, se ha enfocado desde hace un lustro en el trabajo bicultural entre México y Estados Unidos. Su labor ha sido la de buscar espacios para que los artistas mexicanos se presenten del otro lado de la frontera, aportando a la vez la construcción de una imagen de la cultura y el arte mexicano que trasciende lo folclórico.
Esa apertura de espacios permite visualizar, en ambos países, que las artes escénicas son una herramienta indispensable para construir un intercambio artístico de calidad permanente y atender a la diversidad de públicos.
Originaria de León, Guanajuato, Vázquez es egresada de la carrera de Ciencias de la Comunicación y
continuó su formación como gestora cultural con 17, Instituto de Estudios Críticos.
El gran pragmatismo y la permanente profesionalización de Cristina Vázquez le han permitido coadyuvar
al desarrollo artístico y cultural de México y su proyección a nivel internacional.
A partir del 20 de enero de 2020, Vázquez es la primera mujer mexicana en formar parte del Consejo Directivo de la Asociación de Profesionales de las Artes Escénicas (APAP por sus siglas en inglés), surgida en 1957 en Estados Unidos y líder a nivel mundial en este ámbito cultural.
Recientemente organizó la gira de la Compañía Tania Pérez-Salas por México, Estados Unidos y Canadá, pero debido a la pandemia derivada del coronavirus el grupo de danza contemporánea únicamente alcanzó a dar un par de funciones, el 13 y 14 de marzo, en el Teatro Juárez de Guanajuato con el apoyo de EFIDANZA.
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