Bazaar Belief: Sybel Vazquez On Her Role Model, Biggest Achievement And Key Life Lessons
The Head of Cultural Programming At The Arts Club Dubai shares her biggest regret and life changing experiences…
The effervescent and gregarious Head of Cultural Programming at The Arts Club Dubai has made a name for herself by creating engaging round-table panels and curating talks that bring together some of the region’s most interesting individuals. Her mission: to spark discussions, connect creatives and elevate minds
Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (HBA): When you were younger, what did you want to be?
Sybel Vazquez (SV): I wanted to be a studio executive, read scripts all day, and hand-pick those that I hoped would be become classics – I still might one day.
HBA: What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
SV: Being able to surround myself with extraordinary thinkers and makers that I can learn from and introduce to our community.
HBA: Who is your career role model and why?
SV: I have many, for different things, and they are all unapologetic, trailblazing women.
HBA: What key lesson have you learnt?
SV: My mother taught me that you must love yourself first in order to be able to love others.
HBA: What part of your work are you most proud of?
SV: After every Cultural Programme event, we bring our audience a little closer to better understanding the region’s creative landscape. Eventually you get people emotionally invested in the growth of this ecosystem, which is what I hope to achieve. Playing a part in supporting our region’s artists and thinkers, however small, is an aspect of my work that I am very proud of.
HBA: Biggest sense of achievement?
SV: Sticking around at a time when too few of us would.
HBA: What effect do you have on others?
SV: I’ll leave it to them to tell me, but I hope I have a positive effect on people in my life.
HBA: Which experience in life taught you most about yourself and why?
SV: Moving to Dubai from Paris as a young child. It expanded my cultural horizons in ways that are unique to this country, at a very formative age. DEFINING CAREER MOMENT? A summer art course in NYC. I left what would’ve been a career in law to pursue my love for contemporary art. I never looked back.
HBA: What are you most passionate about and why?
SV: Art. It’s very difficult to define, so it always surprises me.
HBA: What would you tell your younger self?
SV: Your mind is a sponge, learn always.
HBA: Favourite adage you live your life by – and who said it?
SV: “When there is nothing to do, there is everything to be done.” I’m pretty sure I came up with that one in high school…
HBA: Biggest regret?
SV: “No ragrets”, ever. [We’re The Millers]
HBA: Can we have it all (and what does that mean)?
SV: Yes of course, but having it all doesn’t mean the same thing every day nor does it mean the same thing for everyone.
HBA: What do you listen to most – your head, heart or gut – and why?
SV: Almost always my gut and on occasion my heart.
HBA: What do you still want to learn and why?
SV: Everything from everyone. Knowledge is power.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s July/August 2022 Issue.