Unbelonging and Collective Memory in Afro-Puerto Rican Art

• In Event: Feeling Empire and Facing the Future: A Reckoning and Rupture

Abstract

On November 19, 2023, the Movimiento Afropuertorriqueño and Familia Orta-Allende gathered in front of the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico to protest the institution’s silent removal of the wooden plaque honoring Cecilia Orta Allende. This decision made by the museum’s board, is not an isolated incident; it reflects a broader pattern where institutions erase Black cultural production. For this paper, I will explore how Afro-Puerto Rican art has been relegated to the periphery by the archipelago’s cultural institutions, deepening the recurring sense of unbelonging for Afro-Puerto Ricans. Furthermore, I will discuss the efforts of alternative spaces such as Casa Silvana and ​​La Casa de Arte y Cultura de La Playa de Ponce, dedicated to supporting Afrodescendant art. These Casa Museos play a vital role in constructing counter-narratives and retelling/reshaping the collective memory of the Afro-Puerto Rican subjec

Author

• Melanie Rodriguez Vázquez, Michigan State University