Dr. Pilar Riaño Alcalá

Biography

Pilar Riaño-Alcalá is a Professor at the University of British Columbia, specializing in interdisciplinary scholarship within the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice. As an anthropologist and ethnographer, her research investigates themes related to witnessing lived experiences of violence, the political implications of memory, and the landscapes of social repair. Riaño-Alcalá is particularly focused on epistemic justice and employs relational methodologies that integrate creative forms of knowledge production, including oral history and social practice art. She has been a Senior Fellow at the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies and is involved in significant projects such as the Transformative Memory International Network. Her extensive work with Black and Indigenous communities in Colombia emphasizes innovative research methodologies that draw on the interactions between human and non-human knowledge production. Riaño-Alcalá also has a notable history in public performance art related to memory, collaborating with artists and community organizations for over twenty years. Her commitment to community-based initiatives has contributed to peace-building efforts and historical memory work in Colombia, including research on the origins of the armed conflict and guidelines for the Museum of Historical Memory in Colombia.

Research Interests