Puerto Rico en DC

“Cuando nada en la tierra quede”
The Diva Ends/The Diva’s Ends
(In English)
November 5, 2009, 1-3 pm
St. Mary’s Multipurpose Room

Professor Licia Fiol-Matta,
Associate Professor
Department of Latin American & Puerto Rican Studies
Lehman College, The City University of New York

Licia Fiol-Matta is Associate Professor of Latin American and Puerto Rican
Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York. She is the author
of A Queer Mother for the Nation: The State and Gabriela Mistral
(University of Minnesota Press, 2002), and of scholarly articles on gender,
race, and sexuality. Her current research focuses on pop music and media;
her second book, forthcoming from Duke University Press, is tentatively
entitled The Politics of Voice: Gender and Music Culture in Puerto Rico.
She is a member of the Editorial Collective of Social Text and co-editor of
the series New Directions in Latino American Cultures and New Concepts in
Latino American Cultures at Palgrave/Macmillan.

“Puerto Rican Matinee pt. 2: Contemporary Films from the Island”
Sunday, December 7
12:00 p.m. —2:00 p.m. “Cayo” (2005) by Vicente Juarbe
3:00 p.m. —5:00 p.m. “Maldeamores” (2007) by Carlos Ruiz Ruiz and Mariem Pérez Riera
McEvoy Auditorium / Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture
8th St. and G St. NW
Washington, D.C.

Set on the island of Culebra, “Cayo” is a touching love story about friendships lost and regained.  With stellar acting, “Maldeamores” is the award-winning film produced by Benicio del Toro.  A dark comedy about love and relationships, “Maldeamores” will be followed by a short discussion on filmmaking in Puerto Rico.  Tickets are available one hour before each show (or after 11:30 a.m.) and are subject to availability—be sure to arrive early for a good seat!

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“Puerto Rican Art Now – with Antonio Martorell”
Friday, December 12
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum
Independence Avenue at Seventh Street SW
Washington, DC
Admission is free

The Smithsonian Latino Center presents one of Puerto Rico’s best known artists, Antonio Martorell, who will discuss the work of Puerto Rican artists since the 1980s and their presence in international museums, galleries on the island and in the global art market.

For more information about this and other upcoming programs, please visit http://latino.si.edu/newsevents/ – Look out for next week’s Ambulante at the Smithsonian: New Documentaries from Mexico.

This Thursday night at the literary café Busboys and Poets in D.C., the Smithsonian Latino Center will present two of the few DIVEDCO films addressing blackness in Puerto Rico, “El Resplandor” and “Nenén de la Ruta Mora.”

Relatively unknown, “El Resplandor” is one of the island’s most powerful films, telling a story of insurrection on a sugar plantation on the eve of the abolition of slavery.  In a surreal adaptation of the island’s folklore, “Nenén de la Ruta Mora” is a poetic tale of a young boy from Loíza and his imaginary playmate.  Discussion about these films will be led and facilitated by Marvette Pérez, Curator of Latino History from the National Museum of American History.

These films are available only in Spanish; a written, English-language overview will be available for viewers who do not speak Spanish.  Please see the attached flyer for more information about this program, including start time and location.flyer-nenen-and-el-resplandor2

For more information and a full calendar of events for the series “Puerto Rico at the Smithsonian,” be sure to visit www.latino.si.edu.