Teams

Denise A. Olivares et Elsy Zavarce

Elsy Zavarce and Denise A. Olivares form an artist-researcher collective whose practice bridges socially engaged art, memory, and materiality. Both trained in Art Education at Concordia University, they bring distinct but complementary approaches that converge in collaborative, community-centred projects.

Zavarce, born in Canada and raised in Venezuela, is an interdisciplinary artist and emeritus professor at the University of Zulia. Her work is rooted in Socially Engaged Art (SEA), activating public spaces through dialogical encounters, performative gestures, and collective storytelling. Olivares, a Chilean-born artist and educator, works with textile installation, photography, and archives to explore how materiality and touch preserve lived experience, particularly around migration and displacement. Together, they create spaces for dialogue and reflection, weaving connections between personal histories, collective memory, and urban identity.