Interviews with Dominican Women Artists 2016
In 2016, I undertook a two week process of interviewing Dominican women artists in New York City. The project focused on the role of Dominican women artists within the broader landscape of Dominican civic and political activism. Extent research has identified the roles Dominicans have played in re-shaping New York City’s socio-political landscape (Aparicio 2006, Foner 2001, Hernández 1998, Mollenkopf & Castells 1991, Torres-Saillant 1989), in particular in the last half of the 20th century, through the mobilization of social capital (Reynoso 2003), civic engagement (DeSipio 2006, Levitt 2011, Pantoja 2005) and a broad range of political strategies (Foner 2001, Hernández & Torres-Saillant 1998). This body of work has sought to locate Dominican migrants within the broader context of Latino experiences within New York City, as well as within transnational landscapes between New York City and the Dominican Republic. I think – and these interviews also demonstrate – that Dominican artists, and women/queer artists in particular, have made unique contributions that have re-shaped the public and socio-political conversations in New York City.
As the country was reeling from the results of the 2016 elections, I walked around New York City, made my way to the Dominican Studies Institute Library up at City College to dig into the Normandía Maldonado archives, and visited with these extraordinary people. The Dominican photographer, Carlos Rodriguez, accompanied me around the city, taking photos of these artists. It took me awhile to figure out how to share these with you, but – here they are.
I include a link here to a special interview I conducted with Josefina Baez in 2105, for the Hemispheric Institute’s special issue Caribbean Rasanblaj, edited by the glorious and venerable Gina Athena Ulysse. The interview was titled, “Into the Invisible: A Conversation Performance with Josefina Baez“.
Alicia Anabel Santos
Alicia Anabel Santos Interview
Angelina Tallaj
Interview with musician and scholar Angelina Tallaj
Carolina González
Interview with critic and scholar at large Carolina Gonzalez
Dulcina Abreu
Interview with artist Dulcina Abreu
Joiri Minaya
Interview with artist Joiri Minaya
Nelly A. Rosario
Interview with writer Nelly Rosario
Scherezade García
Interview with artist Scherezade Garcia
Yoseli Castillo
Interview with writer Yoseli Castillo