I’m so uber proud and grateful to be part of the exhibition, Voces y Visiones: Gran Caribe at El Museo de Barrio; Curated by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado. I simply love everything about this place: the staff, building, colors, cafe…!

VOCES Y VISIONES: Gran Caribe
Drawn from El Museo del Barrio’s wide-ranging Permanent Collection, this exhibition features works that explore the vast diversity and complexity of the Caribbean basin, as an accompaniment to El Museo’s upcoming exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, presented in collaboration with Studio Museum in Harlem and Queens Museum of Art.

The Caribbean has been both a subject and a source for visual expression prior to its relationship with Europe. This history, marked by a constant flow of people, objects, ideas, and images into and out of the region, has affected artistic development and practices in the Caribbean basin as well as in its counterparts in the Diaspora. This installation of Permanent Collection objects takes a narrative approach to some of the themes developed in the larger exhibition, exploring the connections between personal experiences and visual expressions. The works seen here explore the human need to move from one place to another, the urge to make epic narratives from personal stories, and the desire to share one’s love for a homeland with others. As the title implies, the islands, the coastlines and the waters that unite them are all part of this study.

The exhibition explores four related themes that focus on the connections between spirituality and daily life, the shifting of people into and out of urban spaces, the persistence of abstraction as a visual language, and the constant presence of the water. Among the featured works is a large-scale painting on hand-made paper by Puerto Rican artist Rossana Martinez. This work considers islands: small, golden, irregularly shaped forms that cover the rich cobalt blue of an endless sea. Other featured objects include a selection of Haitian paintings, featuring a work by Prefet Duffaut; Puerto Rican and Guatemalan masks; sculptures by Charles Juhasz -Alvarado and Federico Ruiz; photographs by Ana Mendietaand a trio of En Foco artists, Charles Biasiny Rivera, Roger Cabán and Felipe Dante; and a costume worn by Coco Fusco in a performance as Queen Isabella, created by Pepón Osorio.

Gran Caribe considers the significance of race and ethnicity, language and dialogue, affinities and differences throughout this part of the world. Artists for whom the Caribbean is both a point of departure and a homecoming are included, as are critical voices that explore new ways of thinking about how Caribbean bodies and voices are represented.

Last week, my father was telling me about the time when my parents decided to move to Puerto Rico. He was a student in Spain, where he met my mother. Those were hard times for them because they were living on a student budget (=no money), had a kid (my amazing brother), and my father was studying to take the exams to be a lawyer. But when talking about it, he said: “I was not afraid of life”.

Although I think this is the first time I hear these words from my father, I’ve always felt that my parents taught me to love what I do, always give my best, and to do it with passion. Seeing their courage has influenced me as a person and as an artist.

As artists, we have to love what we do. This profession is very personal and full of rejections. Rejection is hard to take and that is why it is important to feel secure of who we are and what we want. We all have insecurities, but to learn how to deal with them positively is the most important. Making honest work gives us the courage to continue making art – even if we are rejected or criticized.

Following the conversation with my father, my whole family decided to go to the beach. It was hard to get everyone ready. I have a big family! At the beach, my older nieces and nephews were jumping from the pier into the water. It was wonderful to see how they mentally prepared until they had the courage to jump into the ocean.

My six-year old niece and I were looking at them when she said: “Titi (aunt), I’m ready to jump”. We walked toward the pier holding hands. When we got to the pier, we looked down and, I have to confess, I would have preferred not to jump. The water wasn’t very deep, but it looked like there was no bottom of the ocean. But I knew this was an important moment for her. We looked at each other one last time (still holding hands) when I began to count: uno, dos, and we jumped at tres. After we jumped, I asked her how was it. I was so happy to hear her say: “Titi, I want to jump again”…and we did.

Courage is what makes life worth living!

Photo: Piers at Crash Boat Beach, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.