It’s been a few months since our cultural exchange trip to Puerto Rico back in August and September of 2013. While we were there we took over 800 photographs and videos to document the events we participated in and locations we visited. In between all of our other projects, we’ve been sorting and cataloging this media into the first major collections for the new Raíces Cultural Center Digital Archive, our wonderful digital librarian Miraida Morales has been working with programmers to tweak the archive software so it can handle all that we have to share with you! In the meantime, we wanted to give our supporters and followers a sneak peak of what you will see in the collections that are going up!
EcoCulture: Plenitud Iniciativas Eco-Educativas
Earthbag eco-house under construction at Plenitud Eco-Iniciativas. This is just one of many projects that were underway when we toured the land with Paola and Jariksa at Plenitud.
Natural beauty on la Finca Tres Amigos run by Plenitud. The Raíces Archive will feature a collection of plants grown on this 3-acre sustainable farm and homestead.
5th Annual Bomba Research Conference
Panel Discussion with bomba practitioners from Arroyo. This was one of several events we attended around the island as part of the bi-yearly conference organized by the Puerto Rican Organization for the Performing Arts.
5th Encuentro de Tambores
This vejigante competed with the contingency from Loíza. The full day event in Juncos ended with all of the town’s contingencies performing together in “the meeting of the drums”.
Bomba dancers and drummers competing at the 5th Encuentro de Tambores.
Folklore: Los Vejigantes
Vejigante crafted from a tree stump in Rio Grande. Together with photos from our 2009 exchange trip to Loíza, we will be building a collection of vejigantes, a folkloric character from the island of Puerto Rico.
La Naturaleza
Look for these collections in the coming months on the Raíces Cultural Center Archive. Special thanks to Clarissa Alvarado, the Vazquez and Dominguez families, Justine Cook, Hayley McHendry, Gabby Aron, Paul Alirangues and Linda Powell for their generous donations towards this cultural exchange and archival project!