Patricia Ariza

Patricia Elia Ariza Flórez (; born 27 January 1946) is a Colombian poet, playwright, actor and former Minister of Culture of the Government of Petro.

Life and career Patricia Elia Ariza Flórez was born on 27 January 1946 in Vélez, Santander, Colombia. On the run from violence, her family arrived in the Colombian capital of Bogotá in 1948. During her youth she was grasped by Nadaism in Medellín, together with, among others, Gonzalo Arango. Around the same time, at the end of the 1960s, she joined the Colombian Communist Youth (JUCO), being influenced by her future husband Santiago García. In 1992 she left JUCO, meanwhile, she had left García at this time.

In 1966, she and García founded the culture house Casa de la Cultura, which was renamed Teatro La Candelaria later. This was the first alternative theater in Colombia. From 1967 to 1969 she studied art history at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the National University of Colombia in Bogota.

Ariza distinguishes herself in the theatrical world for her special approach which focuses on promoting social interaction and reducing conflicts. For instance, she shows women who left their homes because of violence, elderly, or market salesmen, by letting them tell their life stories and giving them an active role in the development of the narrative. In her scripts, their problems play an important role.

In 2007 she was honored with a Culture and conflict Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for "her outstanding work over decades to empower the disadvantaged, enabling them to transform their lives through cultural activities, for her efforts to counteract injustice and restore social memory, and for her energetic commitment to the reduction of conflict." The award was presented to Ariza in New York City in October 2014 at a ceremony at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, of the Graduate Center, CUNY, and was accompanied by a week of events and workshops with her or celebrating her work.