About
Isabela Basombrío Hoban is an award-winning poet. She is also a multidisciplinary artist working in music, sound and visual art. Originally from Peru and living in Ireland, she is a bilingual poet writing in both English and Spanish. Her recent books are "Nothing belongs to everyone" (Nada pertenece a todos 2022) and "Rain Love Death Poets" (Lluvia Amor Muerte Poetas 2023) both published by Ediciones Vitruvio. Her publishing houses are Ediciones Vitruvio in Madrid, Spain and she is also signed with Salmon Poetry in Ennistymon, Ireland for future publication. Isabela is the recipient of the 2023 Premio Nuevo Ateneo Online (New Athenaeum Online Award). The New Athenaeum Online Award recognizes the work of authors who have written an important work of great literary value and who strive to contribute to new forms of cultural diffusion to reach the reading public. The jury is composed of authors of recognized prestige. Isabela has received awards from the Mayo County Council Arts Section and Culture Ireland.
Her visual art, mixed-media installation and sculpture, explores internal states, life cycles and the pursuit of meaning. In particular meaning with multiple readings. Isabela exhibits as a solo artist and has also been part of an international artists collective. Isabela is interested in the connection between the arts and medicine and has been involved in projects related to that topic. Her recent exhibitions have addressed the complexity of space and time through projects involving archeological sites and references to the intermixing of specific cultural aesthetics with transient inner experience using a powerful and direct visual approach.
Isabela has developed innovative programs in art museums, including a Community Service Project at the Detroit Institute of Arts which involved intensive work with hospitals, hospital staff, psychiatric patients, hospice, women's shelters and refugee groups. Further, she has also created exhibitions and programs around contemporary art, puppetry, graffiti, video and public art from different cultures, with a special focus on Latin American art. She has taught widely, organized conferences, created programs for special exhibitions and researched contemporary art and museum practice.
Isabela was a recipient of the Smithsonian award for museum leadership and conducted internships at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Wichita Center for the Arts, Kansas and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Environmental Design from Texas A&M University and a Master's degree in Arts and Museum Education from Wichita State University. Isabela was a fellow with the "Next Generation Leadership Project" of the Rockefeller Foundation and with New York University. She has carried out artistic work with various arts, educational, cultural, hospice, women’s and refugee organizations in Ireland. She studies Sound Therapy in Nepal with master practitioners and is a musician of Irish traditional fiddle and mandolin. She is currently involved in innovative music and poetry projects.
