Latinx Latitudes

Valeria Salinas Toro is an Afro-Colombian artist and cultural producer from London.

Their practice explores Afrofuturism and community engagement rooted in culture and collective joy.

Valeria has produced workshops with Somerset House, Brixton House, Livesey Exchange and QS1 Studio in Berlin. 

Valeria is one of the co-producers designing creative experiences in-conjunction with the screening of Tejiendo Nuestro Futuro, workshops rooted in cultural exchange, archiving and connection.

Daniela is a Colombian filmmaker and screenwriter exploring the intersection of cinema, art and literature to question identity and reality. Her work Brindis, una decisión de muerte was featured at the international documentary film festival DocsBarcelona Medellín and the Bugarte Film and Visual Arts Festival. 

Daniela has an MA in Film Directing from Escola de Cinema de Barcelona and is a member of Alas De Cristal collective.

Daniel is a Colombian visual artist, photographer and anthropologist. His work blends anthropology, philosophy and film through sculpture and visual essays such as Being Macho and Patria. 

He has an MA in Contemporary Photography from Central Saint Martins and exhibited in Bogotá and London. 

Baila Peru UK is a cultural force. Rooted in Andean traditions. Through the power of art, we celebrate our cultural heritage and diversity. For over 35 years, Baila Peru UK has captivated the British audience with the vibrant dances of Peru. Founded by passionate individuals, in 1989, dedicated to sharing their heritage through Huaynos, Huaylarsh and Andean carnival dances, with the participation of the Latin American migrant community in the UK.

Olga Elizabeth Maher has seven years experience leading creative teams through mid-scale logistics and more recently as an operations consultant.  

Her portfolio spans international conference production, product launches, and building custom operating systems to support internal workflows.

She has an undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies with a minor in Film Studies, from King’s College London. 

Her dissertation explored how narco-corrido music videos influence the perception of violence in Mexican narco-politics – clearly wanting to fuse all three of her interests (music, politics, and contemporary Mexican culture) into one research paper! 

Sylvia Velasquez was working at the State Technical University in Talca, Chile, at the time of the military coup in 1973. She was dismissed from her position by the military authorities, forcing her and her family to relocate to a new city. In December 1975, her husband was arrested and sent to a concentration camp.

Despite the challenges, Sylvia managed to work in subsidised schools as a primary teacher and music teacher in secondary schools in Valparaíso and Santiago. As a single parent, pregnant and raising four children, she fled Chile and arrived in the UK in 1977 as a political refugee.

Shortly after arriving in London, she moved to Dundee, Scotland, where she pursued a Diploma and a Master’s degree at the University of Dundee and Dundee College of Education. During this time, she actively participated in the Chile Committee for Human Rights, campaigning and denouncing the atrocities committed by the Pinochet regime.

Upon returning to London, Sylvia volunteered with the Joint Working Group of the Chile Committee for Human Rights. She worked extensively with the Latin American migrant community and was a co-founder of several initiatives, including the Latin American Children’s Project, the Latin American Youth Club, the Latin American House, and the Latin American Community Project. She was also involved with the Latin American Workers Association, El Chasqui magazine, and the Comité Asesor Latinoamericano.

Sylvia currently serves as Volunteer Coordinator and Legal Advice Supervisor for the Westminster Advice Services Project at Asylum Aid, part of the Helen Bamber Foundation. Following the detention of Pinochet in London, she actively participated in the “London Piquet.”

She remains an active member of Ecomemoria, a project in southern Chile that plants one tree for each person who disappeared or was executed during the dictatorship. She is also a member of Bordando por la Memoria, an embroidery group that preserves the memory of the victims of the Pinochet regime through textile art.

Ana María Pelusa was born in Chile, where she became an activist focused on social issues in the marginalised neighborhoods of Santiago. A single mother of four, she arrived in Britain as a political refugee in September 1974. Since then, she has worked as a community development worker and a cleaner.

From the moment she arrived in Britain, Pelusa joined forces with British campaigners advocating for the rights of homeless people and women. She has remained a tireless activist, consistently denouncing human rights abuses in Chile,  from the civic-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet to the present day. Her work seeks solidarity and support for Chilean political prisoners and their families.

Pelusa has been a constant presence in the landscape of solidarity, support and struggle – committed to justice and the preservation of memory. She was an organiser for Chile Democrático–GB and Chilean Women in Exile.

Together with other Chileans, she played a pivotal role in the work of El Piquete de Londres during Pinochet’s arrest in London. Today, she remains active in Ecomemoria, a project she co-founded with the mission to create an ecological reserve in southern Chile. This site of historical memory honours the disappeared and politically executed victims of the Pinochet dictatorship by planting a tree for each one.