Team

Tony Evanko

Project manager

Tony Evanko is an idealist and planner with a commitment to generating significant social change. He has extensive experience in organizing and executing large-scale projects that involve multiple stakeholders to achieve extraordinary results. Since 2006, he has been the Director of the Fundación Casa Tres Patios (Casa Tres Patios Foundation) and has been the driving force behind its programs. His insatiable curiosity, creativity, and drive for professionalism have allowed Fundación Casa Tres Patios to survive and evolve from a strictly artistic organization to one that strives to harness the full potential of contemporary artistic practices, pedagogy, and research in the transformation of society through its educational, artistic and research programs.

Edwar A. Calderón

Independient investigator

Edwar Calderón is an interdisciplinary academic researcher. His research encompasses urban development, human geography, architecture and education in geographies of conflict, with a specific interest in the (re)production of space, spatial justice and urban transformations in marginalised contexts. Since 2008, he has worked on community projects based on participatory research in the USA and Colombia. Since 2016, his research interest has focused on socio-spatial transformations in vulnerable communities in Colombia. Since then, he has been working collaboratively in Quibdó in peacebuilding processes with young people through the use of music and the arts as pedagogical tools for social transformation.

Yeiner Belalcazar Paz

Pedagogical and musical advisor

Yeiner Belalcazar Paz is a musician, storyteller, writer, poet, composer and music producer. He studied music and art education with a specialization in management of cultural and artistic projects. This knowledge has allowed him to be a teacher in different educational institutions and to organise and facilitate workshops on urban, and traditional folkloric music, as well as creative writing workshops. Her has over 15 years experience of working with vulnerable populations (former gang members, victims and ex-combatants of the armed conflict) and has developed a unique approach to utilise the interdisciplinarity between music, poetry, dance and theater as elements of social transformation.

Marlies Kustatscher

Principal Investigator

Marlies Kustatscher is a Lecturer in Childhood Studies at the Moray House School of Education and Sport (University of Edinburgh), and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES). Her research interests include children and young people’s experiences of intersectional inequalities, children’s human rights and participation, and the emotional politics of childhood. She is particularly interested in qualitative, participatory and arts-based research methodologies and the role of arts in children and young people’s social activism. Marlies has a practical background in social work and support work with children and young people.

Camila Suárez

Project coordinator

Camila is an interdisciplinary researcher and project coordinator at the Casa Tres Patios Foundation, where she coordinates the Cultural, Urban and Social Observatory (OCCULUS), an observatory oriented towards research, the incubation of social initiatives and the accompaniment of social projects. She believes in the power of storytelling to generate social transformation and is enthusiastic about collaborative methodologies and “research-creation”. She has a Masters degree in History and Political Science. She has been a young science researcher and researcher at EAFIT University and the University of Birmingham.

Julián García Umaña

Pedagogical and musical advisor

Julián García is a co-founder and co-director of the Mr Klaje Collective, teacher, musician and luthier (instrument maker). He is a music graduate from the Popular Institute of Culture (Cali), holds a Degree in Art Education (University of Tolima) and a Specialist Degree in Artistic Education, Culture and Citizenship (University of Valladolid). He has extensive experience as a pedagogical coordinator and facilitator in local and national community projects. He has developed pedagogical strategies based on music and instrument-making from reusable materials, which contribute to the protection of the environment, social cohesion, reconciliation and peace.

Kay Tisdall

University of Edinburgh Researcher

Kay Tisdall is Professor of Childhood Policy, at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. She is part of the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group. Her academic, policy and teaching interests are in children’s human rights, with a particular focus on children and young people’s participation. Recent projects address a range of topics, such as domestic abuse, family law, early childhood education, child activism and international child protection. She works collaboratively with children and young people, other academics and stakeholders in such places as Scotland, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa. She is a Co-Investigator on the project ¿Cuál es la verdad?.

Juan Manuel Gómez

Pedagogical and musical coordinator

Juan is a musician and teacher, with extensive experience in the design, implementation and management of cultural, artistic and research processes. He has more than nine years of experience as a teacher and researcher and has been working extensively with vulnerable populations in the District of Aguablanca and Ladera, people with disabilities, artists from different disciplines, teachers, families and local government. He has worked as a music teacher in the public and private sector and as a coordinator of research projects in the fields of music, pedagogy and culture. He has been a recipient of scholarships and awards from the Colombian Ministry of Culture, regional government and city of Cali.

Manuel Betancur

Communications coordinator

Manuel Betancur believes in art as an element of transformation to improve society. Since 2018, he has served as the cultural leader of the CalBarrio collective. He has worked in different areas of Medellín, portraying the lived reality of vulnerable populations with his camera and supporting groups and organizations that ensure the well-being of the city's youth. As an audiovisual creator, his work is focused on the production of content for emerging artists such as video clips and photographs for dissemination on social networks.