Visual Artist Daniel Arzola is Vallarta Pride 2017 Guest of Honor Vallarta Pride
May 16, 2017

The Visual Artist Daniel Arzola has become a referent in the defense of the LGBTQI community rights and is part of the fifth edition of Vallarta Pride Festival.

One of the most important events in this edition of Vallarta Pride is to have Daniel Arzola as our guest. He is a Venezuelan visual artist living in Chile.

Daniel is an advocate for human rights, who has created the term "artivism" (the use of art as a tool for social change). He created the campaign"I´m not your joke", a series of 50 illustrations that became the first Venezuelan campaign to reach 5 continents. "I´m not a joke" suggests that systematic jokes are a sort of violence. Its philosophy reflects the unique and unrepeatable universe within each person . The slogan is: we all are different but we have the right to be treated equally. This campaign was born in Venezuela in 2013 in response to  several hate crimes occurred in that country. The illustrations have been translated to more than 20 languages, especially English, French and Portuguese.

Daniel's work has been reviewed by international media. Beside that he participated in Madonna's Project "Art for Freedom". He was the only artist to exhibit 5 pieces, two of those were chosen by Katy Perry. Madonna expressed in a twit how much she loves Daniel's work.

Last March, in Buenos Aires Argentina, they open the Carlos Jáuregui subway station, founder of the Argentinian gay community. Daniel, was in charge of all the illustrations for the station.

In the beginning of May he launched his new campaign "Be True To You" in collaboration with The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center in New York City. This work is now on display in the NY subway.

His visit to Puerto Vallarta is part of Daniel's first international tour, in past days he was in Montevideo, Uruguay, and after PV he will go to San Francisco, California and to Tours and Paris, France. He will be participating in different events.

We are proud to host Daniel and his work. We are selling T-shirts with 5 different designs made by Daniel, inspired in each letter from LGBTQ.  What we raise from the sale will be donated to Vallarta's community center SETAC, where they give comprehensive care to people carrying HIV. This money will help SETAC bring PrEP to Vallarta. The medication can prevent the spreading of the virus.

For more information about Daniel Arzola:

Twitter: @Arzola_d
@nosoytuchiste
Facebook: Daniel Arzola y No soy tu chiste
Instagram: Arzola_d

Vallarta Pride is an event held annually in May that brings more than 15,000 tourists to Puerto Vallarta just during the festival. It has been created to celebrate the diverse and vibrant LGBTQI community that lives and visits Puerto Vallarta and that over the years has influenced and integrated its culture, heritage and history.

For more information and ticket sales, visit Vallarta Pride or the official Facebook page.

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