Internship blog at the Museo de Historia Antropologia y Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico - Danielis Morales Villegas, Week 2

 Week 2:  July 13 - July 19

Danielis I. Morales Villegas

Archiving History

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Last Thursday I worked alongside the museum personnel to ensure the exhibition room was empty. I was taking down the sticky notes in the interactive aspect of the exhibition (the one I mentioned in my last blog post). Before I began doing that, I finished recording the answers into the museum database because this information may be used by a professor in his class. That possibility was quite encouraging because it gives direct purpose to my work. Once that was done, I got to work with the 150-plus? sticky notes (I don’t actually know how many there were, but it was just a lot). It was a very time-consuming task because I had to ensure that the paper wasn’t damaged by the tape or its removal. I spent hours gently – GENTLY – peeling the tape off the back of the paper. That said, I did get to look at every single response, comment, and drawing on that wall because this time I wasn’t just looking for the ones that answered the interactive prompt. I especially loved seeing the drawings which conveyed the essence of black beauty and joy. I included a picture of one person’s simple message: “I finally accept my nose! That is all I have to say.”

I think that message speaks for itself and that is all I have to say. 

After spending hours taking down that part of the exhibition I was finally done, and I felt quite the feeling of satisfaction. Just look at that before and after!

Friday, July 14, 2023

On Friday I was assigned to help the archives department. The museum keeps a thorough collection of information associated with museums and art on the Island. This is actually a very important – though disregarded- aspect of the museum because it helps students and professors from the university with their research, thesis, dissertations, etc. As I was working on the archives, I graduate-level Museum Studies student came in search of information for her thesis. Although I cannot properly explain the topic because it was very niche and unknown to me, I loved the fact that I was in a space where I was exposed to that type of conversation. 

And here's the thing, I was technically eavesdropping on that conversation because the student was talking to the head of archives, not me, I was just in the room. Regardless, I have learned that eavesdropping is a valuable tool. NOW STAY WITH ME I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY WEIRD. I've worked at a library for some years, and now at a museum for a couple of weeks. In both places, I have learned so much just by absorbing all the conversations around me. Sometimes it means listening to someone explain a book or a painting, but the beauty of being in a place fueled by knowledge is that you literally learn just from being there and keeping your ears open to the world around you.

Monday, July 17, 2023

I was assigned to archives to work with a donation received a couple of days after I started at the museum. I am going to be very honest I am used to donations being books (like I said I volunteered at a library) so I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with 40-year-old newspaper clippings… but I got my answer, sort them. Although that admittedly sounds dull, it was a lot more interesting than I expected. All the information I am going to share with you from this point on comes from what I gathered from the clippings themselves: no Google searches or Wikipedia pages. The material donated details the artistic career of Nestor Millan, a Puerto Rican artist who is now a professor at the university.

He was a photographer and artist whose subject was predominantly the male figure explored through the deconstruction of the misogynist, cisgender, and heteronormative lens. Big words aside, he explores masculinity through a vulnerable and sensual male figure, which I have rarely seen depicted in Puerto Rican Art. His work was beautiful and astonishing because Millan was a part of artistic circles and movements I had never heard of. For example, I have included a photo of a clipping of him participating in a demonstration protesting inadequate AIDS responses in the 90s. I loved that one because I had genuinely never heard of the presence of HIV/Aids awareness groups on the island, and I never would have without this task

There it was, forgotten history, refusing to be erased. I can truly go on talking about Millan because this man was everywhere. In fact, I THINK one of the objects donated was an invitation for him to exhibit his artwork in a Japanese gallery (I say think because most of it was in Japanese, so I made an educated assumption).

These archives were truly eye-opening because when I think about Puerto Rican art my mind goes to anti-colonialism, Campeche, Oller, etc. but it’s also Nestor Millan, gender, and sexuality, even if I had never been able to see it before.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Tuesday was day 2 on archive duty, but I was assigned to work on a different topic: Las Biennales de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Biennials). I was lost when I started organizing the newspaper clippings because I had never heard of the Biennials before so I, of course, decided to start reading them…

In the 70s El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena (The Puerto Rican Institute of Culture) started celebrating La Bienal del Grabado Latinoamericano y del Caribe (The Biennial of Latin American and Caribbean Engraving). This was a respectable function that allowed Puerto Rican artists to connect with colleagues from other Latin American countries. Nevertheless, 1986 was a year of contention because Puerto Rican artists decided to boycott the biennial. They were motivated by the actions of the Institute's director who was using the institution to promote the cultural and political assimilation of the Island with the United States. The director, Leticia del Rosario, (who was a Nuclear Physicist btw) was exploiting her position to actively persecute artists who believed in national independence. As a result, La Hermandad de Artistas Graficos (The Brotherhood of Graphic Artists) coupled their boycott with a parallel exhibition held in Old San Juan (the same Venue as the biennial).

As I write, I keep thinking “Dios mio, I am giving them a history lesson”, but then again, I am because that’s what I experienced through articles, press releases, letters, and political cartoons. I was handling authentic items. I had the actual invitation letters to the artists and the drafts for the press release made by the artists themselves.. I saw a stack of handwritten paper that seemed to be the minute or notes of one of the artists' meetings and it even had the possible venues.

Thus far, working in this museum has meant connecting with forgotten history. I was aware of the attempted acculturation of Puerto Ricans, but I had never seen it so vividly and tangible. Even so, this experience has a positive outlook because I'm aware of how important it is that I know about this topic. Now, I can ensure this part of our history isn’t forgotten in some dusty museum archive because now it stays alive through my words and knowledge. 

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

On Wednesday I helped Lisa organize the art and office supplies at the museum. Let me tell you, that place looks like an office/art store. Lisa told me a lot of the materials are donated to the museum which made me realize how important community support can be to small-scale institutions. As I organized the materials, I noticed how the museum stores every scrap and gadget they receive. That small observation reminded me of how the museum and its people make do with whatever they can. We found some small wooden stands that belonged to some canvases that had been used. Essentially these objects had no purpose, and my question was “Do I throw them away?”, but then Lisa pulled them out and started brainstorming how they might be used. That instance made me realize the difference between us and our mentalities. Although it was a small and seemingly insignificant interaction, I admired Lisa a lot at that moment.