Ms. Imber to participate
Miami, Nov. 23, 2016 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Miami Book Fair and Koubek Center will host a presentation of Diego Arroyo Gil’s new book La Señora Imber: Genio y Figura, a tribute to Sofia Imber, a world-renowned promoter of visual arts and pioneering TV personality in Venezuela. The event will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Koubek Center in the heart of Little Havana.
Carlos Alberto Montaner will lead a panel discussion with author Arroyo; Rina Carvajal, executive director of MDC’s Museum of Art + Design and journalist Alejandro Marcano. The event is co-sponsored by The Mezerhane Group; Diario las Americas; Biltmore Parc; The Latin American Herald Tribune; the Inter American Institute for Democracy and Demos for the Americas.
There will be a special performance by iconic Venezuelan singer Soledad Bravo, the great Dame of Latin America’s New Song and long-standing friend of Imber. Bravo will perform songs representing Latin America’s best popular melodies and odes to freedom and democracy. Together with Mercedes Sosa and Violeta Parra, Bravo inspired a whole generation of Latin Americans who fought for freedom and equality. Media availability to interview Bravo will be provided upon request.
Born in Soroca, Moldavia to Jewish parents and raised in Venezuela, Imber is considered one of the most outstanding personalities in the history of Venezuelan art and journalism. She founded the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas in 1973, which has about 4,000 pieces and is the largest contemporary art collection in Latin America. She headed the museum for nearly 30 years until her dismissal by Hugo Chávez. Prior to that, she was a pioneer journalist who created the TV political talk show Buenos días, airing first on Radio Caracas TV (RCTV) and then on Venevisión. She produced and conducted Sólo con Sofía and La Venezuela Posible, a radio show. Imber also held positions within El Nacional, El Universal, Últimas Noticias, Diario 2001, and worked with dozens of publications across the continent for more than fifty years. She published a collection of her articles in 1971 titled Yo la intransigente.
Among many awards and recognitions, Imber is the only female recipient of the Premio Nacional de Periodismo de Venezuela (National Journalism Award). She also received the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Venezuela for her work in advancing the creative process in Venezuela.