Claudia has a track record working as an arts manager, arts practitioner, and academic. She has a strong network within the Australian cultural sector that expands across states. She has continuously been involved in the development of strategic partnerships, programming and event production in the arts sector. This experience has given her the opportunity to engage with an array of arts organisations and arts professionals including arts managers, marketing, finance, development, production and programming professionals, artists, government reps, funding bodies, cultural representatives and diverse audiences.
Between 2009 and 2014 she was Marketing and Development Officer at Multicultural Arts Victoria (Australia). She was appointed member of key artistic advisory committees such as Theatre Panel Assessor for 2015 Arts Grants Program City of Melbourne, Melbourne Fringe Festival Artistic Advisory Committee (2014) and Advisory Committee, School of Art, RMIT University (2014).
In the past, she was also Assistant Director for the recognised contemporary, boundary-pushing Melbourne theatre Malthouse, in the production Blood Wedding (Melbourne, 2012) and performed in theatre shows at festivals including IN TRANSIT Festival in Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt (Berlin, 2011); Performance Space Liveworks, Carriageworks (Sydney, 2010) and Dance Massive (Melbourne, 2011). She co-released in 2018 a limited edition LP electro funk music album, Open Your Eyes.
She has been an active arts leader through the following projects:
peopleartpeople (previously EL TARRO 2008-ongoing)
peopleartpeople is committed to connecting people through the arts. Evolving from, EL TARRO, a project created by Dr Claudia Escobar Vega and Jorge Leiva, that over 10 years supported a community of artists connected to Latin-Australian culture, peopleartpeople launched in 2023, presents artistic work that links people through art with an all-around vision.
About EL TARRO:
Between 2010 and the early 2020s, EL TARRO, created by Claudia Escobar Vega and Jorge Leiva, became a platform for experimental art that took form into a platform where new Latin Australian artists arriving in Melbourne performed and connected with each other and with audiences. During its history, EL TARRO played an important role in the development of a community immersed in a new wave of Latin-Australian contemporary art in Melbourne.
It worked with more than 300 artists and cultural leaders presenting over 40 sessions, and engaging audiences of over 10,000, mostly in Melbourne, but also in Sydney, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Berlin, Bogota, San Francisco, Cesena and Venice.
EL TARRO’s work was widely recognised across its history. In 2010, it was officially selected as a Leading Project across the Southern Hemisphere by The South Project Inc, and also featured in the exhibition From Latin American Stories to Victorian History: Building Bridges (2018) by Latin Stories Australia. Additionally, it received a City of Yarra Grant (2018) and the Pozible Gigs Prize (2013) for the gig with most supporters.
In 2020 it released the report ‘Who is going to look this way? A glimpse of Latin Australian contemporary artists in Melbourne towards the 2020s’.
Visit peopleartpeople
Miss Colombia (2013-2021)
Open Your Eyes (Album cover art, 2018)
Miss Colombia is a music project led by artist and educator Jorge Leiva and Dr Claudia Escobar Vega Aiming to be a deliberate counterpoint to mainstream cultural representation of Colombia seen on the Miss Universe stage, or on Netflix’s Narcos. Miss Colombia combine elements of Caribbean groove with an electronic, psychedelic, hip-hop feel. Miss Colombia released one album Open Your Eyes (2018) and four singles: Autogol (2014), Tropical Snow (2014) and This one's for you (2016). In 2021, for its culmination, it released the single ‘Amazong’, a song written in collaboration with young people singing for action on the protection of the Amazon Jungle.
Its music has featured in film, television and publicity campaigns including BONDS iconic underwear brand 2018 Australia and New Zealand Christmas campaign; commissioned music for the internationally awarded (Special Prize “City of Annecy Award” in the Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, 2018) for short film Butterflies (2017) produced by LaFinka in partnership with The Swiss League against Cancer; worldwide social campaign The Colombian Ambush (2018); The New Wave (2016) TV documentary on Colombia's new music aired by one of Colombia's biggest TV channels: Caracol TV; and two commissioned tracks for Australian comedy series Idiot Box (2015).
Visit Miss Colombia band
La Descarga (2009-present)
La Descarga is a tribute to the music and dance traditions of the Afro-Colombian regions from the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Colombia. Created in 2009 in Melbourne by Jorge Leiva, this unique ensemble in Australia has preserved the culture of Colombian Tri-ethnic (Spanish, African and Indigenous) ancestors, sharing it with Australian music and traditions. I actively support the band’s development.
Visit ladescargaband.com