Sarah Van Borek: Global Citizen through the Arts
Sarah Van Borek is a filmmaker, musician, visual artist and educator dedicated to global citizenship through the arts . She has applied her creativity to work in fields ranging from child rights, HIV/AIDS, gender, diversity and poverty alleviation to sustainability, peace-building and foreign policy, and with a variety of organizations in Canada and abroad including: the David Suzuki Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, the International Institute of Child Rights and Development, the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, RedZebra and Peace it Together.
Sarah has a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Film and TV Production from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), a Bachelor of Media Arts Degree from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver) and a Certificate of Excellence in Film Foundation from Vancouver Film School. Sarah currently teaches in the Faculty of Culture and Community at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and has also worked as a Teaching or Program Assistant in all of these educational institutions.
Sarah has a deep passion for Africa that began when she started studying traditional Southern African music in Canada. She has been a performer and teacher of African marimba music across North America and Africa since 1999. Originally trained in Shona music from Zimbabwe, Sarah’s approach to marimba as a versatile instrument gives rise to her original compositions and cross-cultural fusions. Sarah’s passion and experience in other instruments: mbira (“thumb piano”), hosho (shakers), djembe (West African hand drum) as well as vocals, lyric-writing and dance (West African, Basotho, Congolese, gumboot and Middle-Eastern) make her lessons and performances innovative, dynamic and colourful.
