Internship blog at the Museo de Historia Antropologia y Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico - Danielis Morales Villegas, Week 1

Week 1:  July 5 - July 12

Danielis I. Morales Villegas

El arte como re-existencia: lo Afro - puertorriqueño 

Day 1 June 5, 2023

My first day as an intern started with parking troubles but once that was resolved, I was greeted by Lisa Ortega, a member of the educational team at the museum. She then gave me a tour where I met the rest of the staff, just 5 other women. The entire museum runs with a grand total of 6 people. After years of dealing with budget cuts and a federal oversight board, the museum is running low on resources and personnel. Like many things on the island, the museum has seen its struggles and hardships and it has been forced to adapt, survive and make do alongside the people who constantly fight to keep it alive. So, this week meant more than just working at the museum giving tours or answering calls. This week I stood alongside “las Guardianas del Patrimonio”, as they have come to call themselves, and I worked with them to keep on educating people and fostering cultural spaces on the island.

 

Day one was supposed to be simple, I was going to shadow the guided tours and absorb as much information as I could, but that’s not exactly what happened. On my first day, I had to deal with a nosebleed, wrangle a group of 70 unruly students, and give an impromptu tour of the museum. That last occurrence was the highlight of my day. Right after lunch, a lady came with her granddaughter and greeted me with the words “Hola, my granddaughter is here to learn about her culture.” She, of course, thought that I was a seasoned employee which I, of course, was not. As it turns out after listening to Lisa’s tours all day, I could actually give one of my own. To my surprise, I remembered the important years, donors, artworks, etc. Regardless, the tour wasn’t just me giving out the information I had just learned, but I also told them why it mattered and what made me feel. The tour was supposed to end because I thought I was just giving them a brief welcome (It was my first day after all), but once we actually got into the exhibition room, they would not let me go. This is literally how the conversation went.

 

“Now I invite you to enjoy the artwork in our gallery.” *as I physically moved away from them*

“No, no you are coming with us.”

 

They would NOT let me go because they wanted a tour. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t really call it a tour. I did share information about the art pieces and the history behind them, but I would say we saw it together really. The granddaughter is part of the diaspora so looking at the art I shared every reason why I love my island and she found all the reasons she is learning to love it.

 

Day 2 July 6, 2023

Thankfully day 2 was considerably calmer. I spent the day answering calls and booking tours. In between my receptionist duties, I got to learn about the museum’s didactic carts. The most interesting one was about the Taínos and their culture. I got to see reproductions of Cemis and envision how they might have looked with gold and gems. My history books told me that they were spiritual idols, but this time Lisa taught me beyond that. We took the time to look at them carefully and examine the designs carved onto the stone and explore their meaning. The most exciting part was being able to sit in a Dujo which was a chair used by the Cacique (Taino leader). We also played around with traditional tattoo stamps that could have been used in anything from war, sports, or tribal identification. The day’s activities allowed me to connect to my Taino ancestors beyond the paragraphs in a history textbook for the first time in my life.

 

Days 3 and 4 July 6-7,2023

I have agglomerated these two days into one entry because I feel that my takeaway and experience came as a whole, and one day was just the continuation of another. On Day 3 the exhibition’s curator coincidentally visited the museum at the same time a group of university students were taking a guided tour. The professor of the visiting class took advantage of this opportunity, and she allowed the exhibition to become a classroom and symposium of ideas. On the other hand, Day 4 was the very last day of the temporary exhibit which was accompanied by a planned guided tour led by the curator. And so, these two days allowed me to understand the meaning and intention behind the exhibition Art as re-existence: the Afro – Puerto Rican.

The art selected was meant to honor and showcase the experience of people of black heritage on the island regarding industrialism, slavery, art, music religion, etc. If you are not Puerto Rican, perhaps the significance of the topic might escape you, but I think what the curator herself said explains it best. Black people don't have a history, and those who do not have a history do not exist. The only history Black people have in Puerto Rico is slavery and its abolition. Here people like to dismiss racism with the myth of the three races (which says we are all a perfect mix of Spaniards, Tainos, and slaves) while simultaneously perpetuating harmful racist beliefs. That coupled with the fact that I come from a predominantly white community has honestly meant that I have an uncertain relationship with my blackness. Nevertheless, in those two days, I heard her speak, and I came to see the curator as a proud and unapologetic black woman who was incredibly protective of her identity. She created a room where young, white, black, and old people took the time to learn about and recognize the nuances of the black Puerto Rican experience. And so, after spending a week connecting to my Latino roots in Washington, these two days really represented connecting to the Afro part of being Afro-Latina.

 

Day 5 July 10, 2023

Monday was the first day the temporary exhibit was officially closed so we had a lot of work to do dismounting the exhibit. It was quite an interesting experience because Washington Week and my short days interning at the museum taught me the importance of placement, colors, descriptions, and messages scattered through an exhibit. Now I was seeing the significance slip away as we started to strip the walls. Even so, the experience was quite exciting because I recognize that few people get to witness the behind-the-scenes workings of a museum. During this process, I got to talk to the registrar and learn all about the delicacy and precision that goes into her job. This day’s experiences and conversation really transformed the way I understand museums because now I can look at them as places of intent, detail, care, and love.

Day 6 July 11, 2023

On day six I was given a special task where I had to transcribe and record all of the answers on the interactive aspect of the museum’s temporary exhibition. I spent the day looking at a wall covered in posts-its of every color that answered the question: Afro heritage in me and my life: how does it feel? How does it look? How does it taste? Where is it? How does it sound? Through those pieces of paper, I saw so many people express an overwhelming love and pride for their culture and ancestry in a way I had never seen before. In the post-its, I saw jokes, songs, quotes, poems, drawings, and myself. After spending years around a community that tiptoes around blackness, seeing people embrace their heritage so unapologetically was riveting.

 

Overall, my first week was filled with an abundance of feelings, knowledge, and experiences, but one thing is certain, I know I am contributing to a longstanding effort to keep celebrating Puerto Rican culture regardless of the obstacles in our way.