BUILDING BRIDGES PODCAST
We’re excited about our Autumn Seasson of Building Bridges @buildingbridges_ax ,
"Global Voices in the Arts" @podcast.globalvoicesinthearts
Join us for a thoughtful conversation on how art shapes societies and fosters cross-cultural collaboration.
After a little delay in our schedule our second podcast episode of the Autumn Seasson is here featuring Humberto Velez, visual artist, performer and activist from Panamá.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8PHHYKXCA
Humberto Vélez is a renowned Panamanian visual artist, filmmaker, and professor whose work focuses on collaborative performance art and "constructed documentaries.
Graduated with a degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Panama in 1990.
After working at a law firm, he received a scholarship to study filmmaking at the prestigious International Film and Television School (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (1992).
His artistic practice actively involves communities, social groups, and ordinary citizens, exploring local identity, migration, popular culture, and social history (such as the construction of the Panama Canal).
He has exhibited at top-tier global institutions including the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He has participated in numerous international biennials, including Venice, Shanghai, Havana, Liverpool, and Cuenca.
He is the founder and director of Visiting Minds, an art and education platform based in Panama, and has directed initiatives such as the Panama Performance Festival (PEPA).
Received the Medal of the French Senate in 2018 and has been nominated for cultural awards like Panamá en Positivo.
Marisa Caichiolo @marisacaichiolo @mcla.curatorial is an artist and curator, her research focuses primarily on the impact on social and political changes in society. She focuses on cultural exchanges researching cultural production fluctuating between theory and practice.such as Venice Biennale 2026 (Italy), Cuenca Biennial, Cuenca (Ecuador), the Casablanca Biennale, Morocco 2026; Sharjah Biennale, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; among others. She is the founder of Building Bridges Art Foundation in Los Angeles, USA and she curated projects in important institutions and projects like PST Getty Museum LA/LA for Museum Muzeo, DOX Contemporary Art Center, Prague, Katara Cultural Center, Qatar, MUSA Museum in Guadalajara, Mexico among many others.
Currently she is the co-curator of the Chilean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2026 representing artist Norton Maza.