To leave
Displacement is not understood only as physical movement. It also implies the rupture of cultural ecosystems, loss of professional circuits, symbolic relocation and entry into new institutional fields.
A program of VAEA · Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts · 501(c)(3) · New York
Where dispersion becomes
public memory.
VAEA operates the New York/Venezuela Chapter of Exodus & Resilience — a structured cultural program to document, exhibit, educate and publicly activate contemporary Venezuelan art created in diaspora.
First cohort
Artists under selection
Curatorial design
Exhibitions and public activations in development
7.7M+
Venezuelans in diaspora
SDG 4 · 10 · 16
Education, reduced inequalities and cultural justice
The crisis behind the program
Venezuela has lost more than 20% of its population in a decade. Among those who left is an entire generation of artists, curators, educators and cultural workers — still creating, still thinking, still producing work.
Source: UNHCR · R4V Regional Platform, 2026
The New York/Venezuela Chapter
A structured program for cultural preservation, critical education and public impact.
Full program →Why this program exists
The Venezuelan diaspora — over 7.7 million people in more than 90 countries — carries a rich, sustained and underdocumented artistic production. Despite its quality and continuity, Venezuelan artists in diaspora face a specific barrier: institutional exclusion from the exhibition, documentation and critical circuits of their host countries. This gap is not a matter of talent. It is a matter of infrastructure.
From the perspective of transnationalism (Glick Schiller, Basch and Szanton Blanc, 1994), this artistic production does not belong only to the country of origin or to the host country. It inhabits a simultaneous space of memory, displacement and cultural recomposition. The New York/Venezuela Chapter works precisely within that threshold: where migrant experience becomes archive, public conversation, cultural citizenship and critical learning.
What the New York/Venezuela Chapter does
VAEA, as a New York 501(c)(3), implements the New York/Venezuela Chapter of Exodus & Resilience — a four-pillar program combining professional documentation, institutional exhibition, critical education and measurable social impact.
The intellectual and curatorial direction is provided by Exodus & Resilience (E&R), operating as an independent contractor through By Sibarita LLC, under a transparent contractual framework (MOU v4.6) with documented fair market valuation, independent Board approval and complete documentary traceability.
The program understands curating as a form of civic infrastructure. From a logic of expanded curating, exhibitions, archive, mediation, critical texts, education and impact measurement form part of one integrated system of cultural recognition.
A transversal educational layer
The program incorporates principles of Education for Sustainable Development, transformative learning and critical thinking. Education is not an addition to the curatorial program, but a central dimension of its impact: turning artworks, archives, testimonies and cultural processes into tools for understanding migration, memory, belonging, cultural rights and social justice.
Shared conceptual grammar
To leave, to sustain and to recompose.
The four Exodus & Resilience programs share a common conceptual grammar: to leave, to sustain and to recompose. In New York, this grammar is activated through the experience of the Venezuelan diaspora as a transnational community: a community that left a territory, sustains cultural and affective ties to it, and recomposes new forms of cultural citizenship in the host country.
To sustain
Diaspora sustains memory, networks, artistic practices and affective ties across territories. Archive, documentation and mediation allow that continuity to become visible and transmissible.
To recompose
Contemporary art makes it possible to build new forms of belonging and public recognition. From the third space (Bhabha, 1994), diaspora produces cultural languages of its own.
Four pillars of action
What the program actually does.
01 — Document
Research & Archive
Professional documentation of artworks, artistic processes and trajectories: interviews, technical records, professional photography, critical texts and audiovisual archive. Each entry follows contemporary curatorial documentation protocols.
02 — Exhibit
Exhibition & Activation
Public activations and institutional exhibitions in museums, universities and cultural centers across the U.S. and internationally. Priority venues include El Museo del Barrio, Bronx Museum, Americas Society and ArtsWestchester.
03 — Educate
Education & Mediation
Pedagogical resources, artist talks and educational programs for students, educators, universities and Venezuelan migrant communities — using contemporary art as a tool to analyze migration, memory, identity, transformative learning and cultural rights.
04 — Measure
Impact & Reporting
Rigorous measurement framework aligned with UN 2030 SDGs 4, 10, 11 and 16. Annual impact reports published publicly. Full fiduciary transparency under VAEA's 501(c)(3) obligations and IRS reporting requirements.
Phase One · Framework
01
02
03
04
05
06
Initial cohort
Artists under selection through curatorial review.
Curatorial design
Exhibitions and public activations in development.
Education
Public programs and learning materials for diaspora communities.
24 months
Initial implementation horizon for Phase One.
Funders
Priority funders identified for 2026 outreach.
Venues
Museums, universities and cultural partners under strategic cultivation.
Institutional structure
Designed for fiduciary clarity.
VAEA — Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts
VAEA is the charitable operating entity and fiduciary holder of all program funds, based in New Rochelle / Westchester, New York. Responsible for: program implementation and institutional ownership; fund administration and financial management; relations with donors, foundations and grant-makers; regulatory compliance with IRS and New York State charity law; institutional contracting with exhibition venues and providers.
Exodus & Resilience — Independent Contractor
E&R (By Sibarita LLC) provides the intellectual and curatorial direction as an independent contractor to VAEA under MOU v4.6. All services billed at documented fair market value (Annex B), approved by disinterested VAEA Board members, with complete traceability and periodic compliance review.
Transparency commitment
Every payment requires documented deliverables, prior approval and market-rate justification. VAEA reports annually on Candid (GuideStar). No automatic payments. No profit distribution permitted under the 501(c)(3) structure.
The people behind the program
Three professionals, one platform.
President · VAEA 501(c)(3)
Ali Cordero Casal
Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts · New Rochelle, NY
President of VAEA and primary institutional counterpart. Ali brings 501(c)(3) infrastructure, fiduciary oversight and an extensive personal network within the Venezuelan-American artistic community. VAEA receives and administers all program funds under Ali's Board leadership.
Founder and Curatorial Director · Exodus & Resilience
Omar Bustillos Palis
By Sibarita LLC · Barcelona / New York
Founder of E&R and the program's operational architect. Venezuelan-born, Barcelona-based since 2003. Training in Marketing Analytics (ESADE) and Contemporary Art (MoMA New York). Over a year developing E&R as a platform for refugee and migrant artists; two years as Talent Manager at Stockinart, onboarding 50+ Latin American artists.
Guest curatorship · In development
Curatorial direction
Exodus & Resilience · International curatorial network
The program brings together a network of curators, researchers, and cultural professionals to support artist selection, the conceptual development of the archive, the production of critical texts, and future institutional exhibitions. Curatorial collaborations will be formally announced as working agreements and the public phases of the New York/Venezuela Chapter are consolidated. In the meantime, Exodus & Resilience coordinates the program’s conceptual, editorial, and documentary framework under VAEA’s institutional supervision.
Foundation pipeline
53 foundations identified. 14 at Priority One.
Priority One — Maximum mission alignment
Ford Foundation
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
MacArthur Foundation
Knight Foundation
NED
Unbound Philanthropy
Four Freedoms Fund
Tinker Foundation
Fundación Cisneros
Vilcek Foundation
NYSCA
NEA
Priority Two — Strategic pipeline
Carnegie Corporation
Nathan Cummings Foundation
Surdna Foundation
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Andy Warhol Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Humanity United
Smith Richardson Foundation
Americas Society
UNESCO-Aschberg
Prince Claus Fund
British Council
Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts
Your support builds a permanent cultural infrastructure.
VAEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers. All funds are administered under full fiduciary control with independent Board oversight.