Kwe kwe!
Hi!
My name is Diego Bravo (He, him), I was born in Mexico City but raised between rural Zacatecas and the big city. I am the son of a Cuban father and a Zacatec Indigenous mother. I reside in Tiohtià:ke, which is still one of many unceded territories in so-called Canada. Tiohtià:ke is where I get to call home now, however, I recognise that the Kanien’kehá:ka are and always will be the main dignitaries and caretakers of the land where I have had the privilege to study, work and enjoy life. I am deeply grateful (Niá:wen) to the Mohawk. They have welcomed me in their homes in multiple occasions at Kahnawake and Kanehsatà:ke. These lived experiences and meaningful visits have led me to understand quite well some of the ongoing colonial power structures that continue to limit and sever Mohawk authority and presence on their occupied traditional territories.
I hold an undergraduate degree in Audiovisual Production and Journalism by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, 2016) and an MA in Media Studies by Concordia University (2023).
Through research-creation, ethnographic fieldwork and participatory community-based research at Concordia, I have investigated significant case studies of past and present female Inuit migration from the Canadian Eastern Arctic to the South of Canada. In the past seven years, in and outside of academia, I have built allyships and long-lasting collaborative relations with Inuit organisations and community leaders, these have led me to develop creative projects that critically explore important matters of access to healthcare, community services and land-based education for urban Inuit in Canada.
Today in 2023, I work with AIM as a research associate and I have been an AIM Lab core member since 2021. As a photographer and filmmaker, I have focused my interest on themes regarding geo-aesthetics, migration, gender, land access, environmental and critical disability issues across the Americas, Iceland, Greenland, and most recently, in Nepal.