Exhibition Details
Titled Ocama Aracoel, this gallery remains on view from the long-term exhibition Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección, which reexamined El Museo del Barrio’s unique and culturally diverse permanent collection. Meaning “a call to the ancestors” in the Taíno language, Ocama Aracoel is the last iteration of the exhibition and foregrounds the importance of Taíno cultural inheritance. As part of this project, El Museo invited a Taíno advisory council to guide the reinstallation of these spiritually resonant forms.
Additional Details
The Taíno peoples have inhabited the Caribbean for many thousands of years. Their forms, symbols, and beliefs continue to provide a living resource for cultural reconnection within the Caribbean diasporic community. This visual language informed El Museo’s early mission and graphic identity. Similarly, these forms have shaped the practices of artists both in Puerto Rico and New York, including members of the influential Taller Boricua and their contemporaries.
Location
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th Street)
New York, NY 10029
Image: Installation image of Ocama Aracoel / photo by On White Wall, courtesy of El Museo del Barrio