 Landa Acevedo-Scott Landa Acevedo-Scott/ Founder/ Artistic Director/ Music
After spending three years working as Business Development Manager at one of the world’s leading arts centres, the Barbican Centre, Landa decided to combine her 10 years of experience working in business and the arts to promote a very important cause – creating a meaningful dialogue between Colombia, the UK and mainland Europe. Since its inception in 2007, Colombiage has grown from strength to strength and is today considered to be one of the most influential festivals bringing Colombian arts and culture to the international stage. Landa also runs Tibor Jones Consulting, which specialises in developing and delivering curatorial and fundraising strategies for organisations in the creative industry. Landa graduated in European Business Management & French at Lancaster University (1998), spending her second and fourth year at leading business schools, ICADE Madrid and Ecole de Management de Lyon respectively. She brings to Colombiage her undeniable passion for film, music, literature and her native Colombia. |
 Kevin Conroy-Scott Kevin Conroy Scott/ Co-founder/ Head of Strategy
After spending four years working as a literary agent for leading agencies of the likes of Conville & Walsh and AP Watt, Kevin decided to set up his own creative agency, Tibor Jones & Associates, where he represents novelists and non-fiction authors including Hisham Matar, who was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for his debut novel In the Country of Men. He is also the editor of Screenwriter’s Masterclass, a collection of interviews published by Faber & Faber in 2005. Born in Chicago, Kevin began his career in the mailroom at New Line Cinema in Los Angeles before becoming the script editor at their London office. He earned his MA in Film History at Birkbeck College, University of London and has directed two short films. |
 Ana Maria Diaz Ana Maria Diaz / Assistant to the Director
Ana studied Computer Science – undergraduate and MSc – at Los Andes University in Colombia, where she also took some extra modules in film and drawing, and was part of the University Choir as a soprano, under the baton of Maestra Amalia Samper, for five years. She worked in the software industry while taking different illustration, drawing and computer animation workshops in Bogotá. She is benefactor member of Fundación Sídrome de Down del Huila, a non-profit organisation for children with Down syndrome, since 2007. Being awarded a Colfuturo scholarship in 2010, she’s currently writing her dissertation about animal representation in British animation for children, in order to earn her MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College London. Colombiage means to her a very special opportunity to promote and share the richness and unique flavour of Colombian culture in the UK, while providing Colombians in Britain with a window to education, art and magic, to get back in touch with their beloved country. |
 Sandra Tabares Duque Sandra Tabares-Duque/ Head of Film
Sandra studied in Birkbeck College, University of London where she graduated in Spanish and Latin American studies with a First Class Honours degree. She has been researching Latin American cultural studies since 2003 and has been directly involved with the Latin American film activity in London since 2004 when she joined the DLA Film Festival for which she has worked in different ventures; and in 2008 she became the Artistic Director of the festival. She joined Colombiage in 2006 as Film Programmer. Between 2006 and 2007 Sandra carried out an academic research project, which culminated in a documentary focusing on the cultural representation and perception of Latin American films by Latin American and non-Latin American audiences. Sandra has also pursued further studies in world cinema and film-making with specific interest in new platforms. She is currently producing and directing a documentary project in Colombia. Sandra’s latest ventures; setting up a company that brings together some of her passions: cinema, education and new technologies, and is entering the world of producing video art and experimental cinema. |
 Sylvia Ospina Sylvia Ospina/ Head of PR/ Visual Arts, Theatre & Dance
Sylvia has 18 years experience in the arts and cultural world in France, Colombia and the UK and is currently the Manager of a leading London contemporary art gallery. Having been the Director of various theatres in Colombia including its largest, the Centro Cultural Teatro Municipal Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, she promoted leading national and international artists and focused on supporting young talent. She also created various international festivals that brought important figures to Colombia and promoted Latin American creators. In her early years, after graduating with a degree in Art History in Paris, she worked with the visual arts for many years in Europe. She has contributed to recent publications of Naked Punch, has been a nominator for the Prix Pictet on two occasions and advises various networks of performing artists in Latin America. |
 Esnayder Cuartas Esnayder Cuartas/ Head of Production & Recruitment
Esnayder Cuartas was born and raised in Quinchia, Risaralda, a town in the coffee region of Colombia. As a member of a large paisa family he developed from an early age a strong interest in food , learning to make dulce de leche , making jams and also planting fruit trees in the family farm. He has lived in the UK for 18 years and has a degree from the University of North London in Business Studies, Finance and Systems. After his University studies, he spent some time travelling including a long trip mostly by road from Colombia to Argentina, when he collected lots of recipes from street cafes to well known restaurants. On his return to London he worked as a Restaurant Manager and started to develope the idea for Sabor having noticed the lack of South American restaurants in London, and how wide is the range of south american food. Since Sabor has opened, it has been a great opportunity to promote South American culture in the UK, as well as to make South America cuisine more widely known and appreciated. Now that he is working with Colombiage, he feels is great to be able to share this enthusiasm with such a broad range of people who love Colombia, it’s culture and it’s food. |
 Oscar Guardiola Oscar Guardiola-Rivera/ Literature
Oscar Guardiola-Rivera teaches International Law and International Affairs at Birkbeck College, University of London. He also served as an aid to the Colombian Congress, as a consultant for a unit of the United Nations in the region, taught and lectured in law, philosophy, and politics in three continents. He helped to found a think-tank still active in Colombia, dealing with Human Rights, policy, culture, and conflict resolution, and is recognised as one of the foremost younger voices in Latin American philosophy. |
 Angela Castañeda Angela Castañeda/ Head of Marketing
Angela enjoys reading literature and is happy a member of a book club. She is as well very keen to keeping up to date with current affairs and popular cultural entertainment news. As Head of Marketing of Colombiage she brings up her experience in International Relations from The International American University in Richmond and law courses at the Sabana University in Bogota, Colombia to support this grat innitiative. Her experience in the arts sphere was enhanced after being personal assistant to Kirstie Tuffs, a MFA artist with a Colombian influence from her mother’s side. After working as a sales and trade coordinator for Nature Trade Ltd and as office assistant for E! Entertainment UK, she is currently working as the International Programme Sales Co-coordinator for NBC Universal. |
 Giselle Pertuz Giselle Pertuz/ Head of Funding
Giselle was born in “La puerta de Oro de Colombia” in the middle of drums, cumbia, garabatos and Marimondas. From a very early age she organised theatre and dancing shows in school and was involved in a series of culture-related activities, starting from being able to persuade the Director of the biggest children’s arts group based in the capital of Colombia to open a satellite group in Barranquilla… of course she was among the first to join! She studied English in Boston and Industrial Engineering in Barranquilla, graduating with Honours but also a long list of next steps, though none of them pointing to Europe! It was that first visit that changed her destiny, being mesmerized and seduced by its cultural richness and decided as a good Libra to balance her 2 greatest loves, Culture and Business, and started an MBA in London.For the last 5 years she has been working as a Global Commercial Manager and her link to Colombia and inner-artist comes mainly through Colombiage. She’ll be heading the funding team and relishes the opportunity to share her passion for Colombia and its multicolour culture with Britain.She’s full of energy, always ready to help, and a kind and curious soul for whom travelling and learning something new everyday is what paints a smile on her face. |
 Karina Pachon Karina Pachon/ Marketing Officer
Karina has been living and studying in London since 2005. She is an analytical thinker in humanistic, ethical and social areas with a multidisciplinary view of administrative processes, working and collaborating on several projects and academic studies in Colombia, New York and London. With a Masters degree in Business, she has worked as a consultant and supervisor in profitable companies as well as participated in social programs with NGO’s in Colombia. She is member of an ethical fashion forum, a network of individual, businesses and organizations focusing on social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry. Her passion for culture, human behaviour and artistic expressions make her an eternal student and itinerant traveller. She is also very keen on music, food, films and dance. |
 Zaida Rincon Zaida Rincon/Education Officer
Zaida is an Ecologist who has managed the development of several environmental educational programmes in the National Parks of Colombia and Brazil. She is passionate about using her skills and knowledge to educate children, and this has involved running and presenting ecology workshops and leading group eco tours in cloud and rain forest reserves. Her family has built very strong supportive relationships with several isolated communities in rural Colombia, and working with them, Zaida has developed a number of educational projects tied to the local environment. Zaida also has a great passion for art, film, music and literature. |
 Jorge Restrepo Jorge Restrepo/Colombiage Designer
Jorge Restrepo is a graphic designer graduated with honors from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2001. Jorge has worked as Art Director for JWT and important magazines in Colombia like Revista Cambio and Inter-Cambio. He also was Typography and Composition professor at Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano. He currently works for the Design Department at Universidad de Los Andes. In parallel, he founded WONKSITE STUDIO 10 years ago and in 2011 he’s launching ph3/estudio de diseño. Co-author of Masters of Photoshop Volume 2, he has participated in books like LatinAmerican Graphic Design (TASCHEN), Atlas of Graphic Design (Mao Mao), ¿What do you love? (IdN, China 2010), 1000 type treatments (Rotovision), Dolce & Gabbana Aniversary Book, NLF Book (Musa), Latinamerican design (Zeixs), among others. He has been invited to different international expositions as Festival Internacional de la Imagen 2008 (Colombia), Tercer Salón de Ilustradores (Galería El Nogal, 2010), Territorios Ilustrados (Galeria El Nogal, 2008), MAM Medellín, TMDG2004 y TMDG2005 (Argentina), RAD (MAMBO, Colombia 2003), 34 Ilustradores (Galería El Nogal, Colombia 2007), Propaganda 2008, 2010 (Alianza Francesa, Colombia) and F3 (Iguazú, Argentina). |