Interview with Melanio Gonzalez
IntervieweeInterview with
Melanio Gonzalez
(born 1951)
InterviewerInterviewed by
Ruth Glasser
(American)
Date1997 March 24
Mediumreformatted digital file from audio cassette
DimensionsDuration (side 1): 47 Minutes, 43 Seconds
Duration (side 2): 47 Minutes, 48 Seconds
Duration (total runtime): 1 Hours, 35 Minutes, 40 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.691a-d
DescriptionAudio cassette recording of an interview with Puerto Rican artist Melanio Gonzalez interviewed by Ruth Glasser in March 24, 1997. They discuss his objects on display in the exhibition. The interview was recorded in conjunction with the "Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life" exhibit.
NotesBiographical 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: Ruth Glasser, Professor in the Urban and Community Studies Department at the University of Connecticut, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She worked as a VISTA volunteer in North Carolina in 1979-1980. She has worked on a variety of academic and community-based endeavors including books, curriculum projects, oral history projects, and exhibits. Her publications include: "My Music is My Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians and Their New York Communities, 1917-1940" (University of California Press, 1995), "Aquí Me Quedo: Puerto Ricans in Connecticut" (Connecticut Humanities Council, 1997), "Aquí Me Quedo K-12 Curriculum Guide" (Mattatuck Museum, 1999), [as co-editor] "Caribbean Connections: Dominican Republic" (Teaching for Change, 2004). She assisted CCHAP with two projects: “Living Legends: Connecticut Master Traditional Artists,” interviewing Puerto Rican lace maker Bernabela Quiñones in 1994; and the “Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life” exhibition project in 1997.
Subject 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.
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 (West Hartford), Mel Gonzalez (Meriden), and Robert 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.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this project and this artist.
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
