Objects in Herencia Taina Exhibition
Subject
Melanio Gonzalez
(born 1951)
Subject
Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez
(Puerto Rican)
Subject
Roberto Múcaro Borrero
(Taíno)
PhotographerPhotographed by
Phillip Fortune
Date1997
Mediumphotographs
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightPhillip Fortune
Object number2015.196.351.1-.3
DescriptionPhotographs of objects displayed in the Herencia Taina exhibition.
(.1) A cuatro made from an higüera by Graciela Quinones-Rodriguez. This instrument traditionally played as part of música jibara, the folk music of the mountains, has been carved with symbols of the three main cultural influences in Puerto Rico. The seashell represents the island, its indigenous peoples, and the marine life of the sea. Spanish influence is expressed by the Madonna icon and the lookout tower of El Morro, the fortress of San Juan. The vejigante mask and the couple dancing the bomba signify African cultural forms. The development of Puerto Rico as a nation is symbolized by the faces of Alejandrina Torres and Pedro Albizu Campos. The jibaro figures cutting sugar cane and playing the cuatro are the sometimes idealized symbols of Puerto Rican rural life, and also show the harvest celebrations. The Taino divided triangles around the border signify fertility and the creation of life, showing that the culture is in constant evolution. On the front, the headpiece is shaped like a cemí, the artist's tribute to Taino culture.
(.2) A mayohuacán (Taíno log drum) made by Mel Gonzalez. This type of drum is common throughout the southern Americas and the Caribbean; it is essentially a hollowed log with a resonator formed by cutting a H-shape in the top. They provided a form of communication "announcing" an event or a ceremony taking place, then were played as accompaniment to dancing. The big mayahuacan, made from cedar, is played often by the artist when he performs with the music group Cacibajagua. As in all his recreations of Taino artifacts, González has imbued the drum with symbols which have special meaning. It is carved in the shape of a cemí, the three-pointed stones representing the earth spirit Yúcahu. The ornamentations honor different elements of Taino culture: the shells of the sea, brass meaning the gold of the ancestors, buffalo rib teeth to honor North American Indians, and carved designs signifying the fertility of the plowed earth. The drumsticks have natural latex rubber heads, Brazil nuts from the original Taino homeland of the Orinoco River, and feathers of múcaro (owl) and parrot. One of the smaller drums is shaped like a cayman.
(.3) Bone and shell amulets (archaeological) from the collection of Roberto Múcaro Borrero.
NotesSubject Note: "Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life" was an exhibit and related programs examining the history of Puerto Rico's indigenous people, the Taino through contemporary art expressions and interpretations, on view May 3-November 30, 1997 at the Institute for Community Research.(.1) A cuatro made from an higüera by Graciela Quinones-Rodriguez. This instrument traditionally played as part of música jibara, the folk music of the mountains, has been carved with symbols of the three main cultural influences in Puerto Rico. The seashell represents the island, its indigenous peoples, and the marine life of the sea. Spanish influence is expressed by the Madonna icon and the lookout tower of El Morro, the fortress of San Juan. The vejigante mask and the couple dancing the bomba signify African cultural forms. The development of Puerto Rico as a nation is symbolized by the faces of Alejandrina Torres and Pedro Albizu Campos. The jibaro figures cutting sugar cane and playing the cuatro are the sometimes idealized symbols of Puerto Rican rural life, and also show the harvest celebrations. The Taino divided triangles around the border signify fertility and the creation of life, showing that the culture is in constant evolution. On the front, the headpiece is shaped like a cemí, the artist's tribute to Taino culture.
(.2) A mayohuacán (Taíno log drum) made by Mel Gonzalez. This type of drum is common throughout the southern Americas and the Caribbean; it is essentially a hollowed log with a resonator formed by cutting a H-shape in the top. They provided a form of communication "announcing" an event or a ceremony taking place, then were played as accompaniment to dancing. The big mayahuacan, made from cedar, is played often by the artist when he performs with the music group Cacibajagua. As in all his recreations of Taino artifacts, González has imbued the drum with symbols which have special meaning. It is carved in the shape of a cemí, the three-pointed stones representing the earth spirit Yúcahu. The ornamentations honor different elements of Taino culture: the shells of the sea, brass meaning the gold of the ancestors, buffalo rib teeth to honor North American Indians, and carved designs signifying the fertility of the plowed earth. The drumsticks have natural latex rubber heads, Brazil nuts from the original Taino homeland of the Orinoco River, and feathers of múcaro (owl) and parrot. One of the smaller drums is shaped like a cayman.
(.3) Bone and shell amulets (archaeological) from the collection of Roberto Múcaro Borrero.
ICR's Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program, in conjunction with project scholar Ruth Glasser and designer Ricardo Mulero, planned an exhibit, workshops, and concert to present a wide range of arts practiced by musicians and visual artists who are inspired by Taino heritage. Participating artists included Imna Arroyo (Eastern Connecticut State University), Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez (West Hartford), Mel Gonzalez (Meriden), and Roberto Borrero (New York), who created contemporary interpretations and folk art works illustrating Taino heritage, such as musical instruments, gourd carvings, paintings, and textile art, as well as interpretive information for these. Their works were juxtaposed with Taino artifacts from archaeological collections, along with photographs and posters from the continuing indigenous festival held in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, to show the strong influence that Taino culture still holds for Puerto Ricans. The exhibit project also presented several public events including a concert, a workshop for teachers, and a roundtable discussion. An illustrated brochure in both English and Spanish was produced. The project was supported by the Connecticut Humanities Council, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, and the Institute for Community Research.
The heritage of the Taino Indians is often proudly proclaimed by Puerto Ricans as one of the three strands of their multi-racial society. What that heritage consists of, how much of it has survived, and its relative importance in the overall culture of the island has been a hotly debated topic for centuries. The Tainos, indigenous people living in Puerto Rico when colonists arrived in the late 15th century, provide an example of the politics and complexities of interpreting a culture which has only a small present-day community and no living language, but is both remembered from the recent past and still represented in blood lines, place names, some everyday practices, and spiritual and political inspiration.
Recreated musical instruments made by members of the group Cacibajagua showed how contemporary Puerto Ricans have been both adopting Taino heritage and basing their work on serious study of archaeology and indigenous materials. Cacibajagua demonstrated their music at a concert on May 1, 1997, at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.
Biographical Note: Melanio Gonzalez is a Meriden-based visual artist and musician with Taino family roots who has conducted research on Taino history with an emphasis on musical forms. He makes and plays musical instruments indigenous to the Caribbean, such as the mayahuacan (log drum), maracas, drum sticks, seed rattles, cane flutes, and tree branch trumpets. Mel also makes masks and other ceremonial objects. He is a founding member and performer with the group Cacibajagua (the mythical cave from which all Taino emerged), which bases its presentations on members' research.
He has compiled an impressive body of information on Taino history and archaeology, difficult to do because of controversy and secrecy surrounding the topic of Taino identity. Mel has explored sources beyond the written, academic, and accepted, uncovering oral histories from his own family and the people living quiet, traditional lives in the central mountains of the island. He has presented his research into the Taino people of Puerto Rico at the American Indian Archaeological Institute in Washington, Connecticut, and at El Museo del Barrio's NYC exhibit on Taino archaeology.
Mel makes Taino regalia and musical instruments, decorative carvings and sand paintings. His creations are technically excellent because he spends time making them perfect both in background research on the form, and in execution. Mel has developed effective presentations on Taino art and culture for a variety of audiences. During the Herencia Taína exhibit at ICR, Mel served as a project advisor and presented music workshops to school groups and other audiences during the exhibit. He also participated in the panel discussion "Taino Culture in Contemporary Life: Revival or Reaffirmation?" His music group Cacibajagua presented a concert on May 1, 1997 at Charter Oak Cultural Center as part of the Connecticut Heritage Music Series, a collaboration between the Charter Oak Cultural Center and CCHAP from September 1996 through June 1997. In 1999, he again served as a project advisor for "Mano a Mano: Puerto Rican Traditional Arts from Island to City" at ICR.
Mel loaned the following objects to the Herencia Taina exhibit: big log drum, two smaller drums, gourd tobacco holder, pirana jaw necklace, caiman tooth necklace, cane flute, ceremonial spatula, cohoba pipe, two gourd ladles, bohio model, bark branch trumpet, war club, chair, mask, maracas, and a nut rattle. He has donated two pieces to the CCHAP collection at the Connecticut Historical Society: a drawing of a native man (2015.199.1) and a painting of a Taino spirit being on slate (2015.199.2).
Biographical Note: Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican educator, social worker, artist and luthier who apprenticed with William Cumpiano (Easthampton, MA) and has built cuatros, tiples, and bordonuas. Graciela is also a cuatrista and higüera (gourd) and santos carver. She served as an advisory committee and exhibiting artist and workshop leader for CCHAP’s three Puerto Rican projects, starting as a community scholar with Herencia Taina, CCHAP’s 1998 Taino exhibit project, researching the techniques of higüera preparation and decoration for use as household utensils, ornaments with Taino or political iconography, or musical instruments. She also worked as an artist-presenter for the Massachusetts Cultural Council summer institute on Puerto Rican cultural heritage for Springfield MA teachers. Graciela is a highly respected arts educator, woodcarver, and singer with the Connecticut Latin music group Tierra Mestiza; she is a CT Commission on the Arts Master Teaching Artist and Artists Fellowship winner. As part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in Year 3 (2000-2001), she worked with master luthier Bill Cumpiano. Together they built cuatros, tiples, and bordonuas, older forms of Puerto Rican stringed instruments. As part of the apprenticeship they built a cuatro on the basis of a photograph of an unusual form from the early 1900's, which has a bent wood body rather than a hollowed-out base. They demonstrated their partnership work at the Lowell Folk Festival in 2000.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for these artists and this project.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
