Hector AristizabalRECONECTANDO

Hector was born and raised in Medellín, Colombia when it was the most dangerous city in the world. He worked his way out of poverty to become a theatre artist and a psychologist with a Masters degree from Antioquia University, then survived civil war, arrest and torture at the hands of the military. In 1989, violence and death threats forced him to leave his homeland. In exile, Hector struggled to overcome his rage and desire for vengeance and to channel these energies instead into constructive social action.
Since arriving in the US, he has won acclaim and awards as an artist and also received a second Masters degree, in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pacific Oaks College, leading him to combine his training in psychology and the arts with lessons gained from life experience in his therapeutic work with torture and trauma survivors, incarcerated youth, immigrant families, and people affected by HIV/AIDS. As an activist, he uses theatrical performance as part of the movement to end torture and to change US policy in Latin America.
In 2000 he founded ImaginAction to help people tap the transformative power of theater in programs throughout the US, Latin America, Europe and around the world, as far afield as Afghanistan, South Africa, India, and Palestine, for community building and reconciliation, strategizing, and individual healing and liberation. Through experiential workshops, theater performances and other creative events, ImaginAction invites participants to explore embodied knowledge, challenge the inevitability of violence, and use their imaginations for a more just and joyous life for all people.
In 2017 Hector returned to Colombia and with TWR practitioner Helena Terr Ellen created www.reconectando.org a project that combines Deep Ecology. Social Theater and Healing Ritual to accompany the work of the Truth Commission. Reconectando works with ex-combatants, their victims and community leaders.