Liliana Ludmila Centurion Segovia

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Exeter College, Exeter Phoenix

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

I still live in Exeter. I decided to stay and explore arts education. I worked in a primary school as an Art Teaching Assistant, then moved on to an Art Tutor role at the Exeter Phoenix and later landed the Associate Lecturer in Art and Design position at the Exeter College. I also started offering Spanish Through the Arts private tutoring lessons and became a cover art teacher for a local Spanish school called Nuestra Escuela. Two years ago I started making music with my Latin American band called La Bandita and we’ve been offering a monthly event where we celebrate our Latin rhythms alongside our diverse Exeter community.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

I chose these careers because I wanted to continue exploring arts education in England. After my master’s degree and my previous educational and professional training, I wanted to work in areas that would allow me to embed my passion for the arts alongside my own cultural heritage. It took me a while until I was able to land the positions I now have, but I am proud to say that I am one of the very few Latin American artists in Exeter who is proudly amplifying Latinx voices through the arts. I enjoy to be able to work with people from all ages, from young children, to teens and adults and to find a way to help them connect with their own creative selves. I also enjoy making connections with the educational, artistic and decolonial pedagogies I have explored before and during my MA Creative Arts in Education at the UofE, and creating new courses, plannings and events where more people can enjoy, cherish and appreciate Latin American culture and more precisely, my own Paraguayan culture.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was a member of the Salsa Society, the Body Society and the Latin American one.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

It was a great joy to learn alongside passionate, dedicated and brilliant women in the arts and finding out they were pioneers in creative arts education research. The biggest highlights were learning from Professor Kerry Chappell, Erin Walcon and Ursula Crickmay. I enjoyed the theoretical focus, the time to focus on research discussion and writing, and learning how to connect the arts in a multidisciplinary way which is what allowed me work in different artistic areas after I finished the master’s degree. I also enjoyed having peers from around the world. I made great friends who taught me a lot about their rich cultures and I also learnt to dig deeper in my own heritage, its value as well as learning to reflect upon the deficiencies the educational system in my country has, which is what brought me closer to my dissertation topic and decolonial pedagogies which have shaped up my own teaching strategies. Another highlight was being able to hold in my hands and read an original Herbert Read book from 1958, whose pedagogy shaped my education in Paraguay from nursery to my professional educational training as a BA in Visual Arts and as an arts educator.

What did you most enjoy about studying here?

The general level of professionalism, dedication and passion for the arts. The way the teaching was planned and how they pulled through in spite of the pandemic and having to mainly teach online. The access to countless of literature resources, both online and physical books, journals, etc. The areas of study. The quality and affordability of food, mainly at Cross Keys. The cultural diversity. The infrastructure and societies which also struggled during those times but equally, by being available online, allowed me to make the most of my year.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

Because I really liked the curriculum for my master’s degree, I liked that the city looked small but interesting and also walkable and safe, and it looked quite diverse as well.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Learning about how to conduct research, managing time and exercising critical thinking. Being aware of privilege, decolonisation and working for a more inclusive educational system. Thinking of creativity as a human ability we all have and can explore and exercise. Teaching with a more multidisciplinary practice.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

I would recommend anyone with an interest in an educational artistic practices to pursue this career. It provides with a very interesting, constantly thought-provoking focus in creative arts and a wider interest in creative arts research.

What are your plans for the future?

To become a full-time art lecturer at college level and perhaps pursuing a PhD degree in the future to expand my research and to put into practice some project related with my dissertation topic. To build a bridge between Paraguay, my country and other Latin American countries and England. To work alongside art educators, primary and secondary teachers and run workshops for and with them which involve training in the areas I have been working for the past few years. I would also love to connect artists and art practitioners with Exeter and Asuncion, my capital city and find ways of contributing to the arts education systems we have.