A look at
the past
El Museo photo exhibit eyes
Puerto Rican community
BY AIDAN SEIDEN
After almost 4 decades of
entombment, the black
and white photographs
taken by the founding members
of the 1974 cooperative,
En Foco, are currently on display
at El Museo del Barrio
until Feb. 27, refl ecting on the
lives of the Puerto Rican community
in New York City, from
classrooms to barbershops to
even street corners.
The exhibition features a
portfolio of evocative documentation
from the 1970’s,
telling the idiosyncratic story
of the fl ourishing life of New
York’s Puerto Rican diaspora
in a show called, EN FOCO:
THE NEW YORK PUERTO
RICAN EXPERIENCE, 1973-
74.E
ach one of the 79 black and
white photographs included
in the installation at El Museo,
were taken by the Bronx-based
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
locals, Charles Biasiny-Rivera,
Roger Cabán, and Felipe Dante,
En Foco’s founding members—
all of whom concentrated their
photography on the themes of
education, small businesses, and
labor, to depict the realities of
their community while living in
the city.
In response to stereotypical,
external representations of the
Nuyorican community (the term
commonly used to refer to the
Puerto Rican people or culture
in New York), the collective
used their photography to tell
the story of “a community who
have helped to make New York
City the most complex and lively
city in the Americas,” said the
exhibition’s curator at El Museo,
Susanna Temkin.
“This work is part of El
Museo del Barrio’s legacy and
represents the original ethos behind
the two organizations: El
Museo and the photography collective
En Foco,” stated Temkin.
El Museo del Barrio in Harlem is hosting a vintage Puerto Rican history photo exhibit.
El Museo del Barrio was
founded more than 50 years ago
by the artist and educator Raphael
Montañez Ortiza, along
with a coalition of Puerto Rican
educators, artists, and activists.
The museum is now the country’s
leading Latino and Latin
American cultural institution,
making it the perfect place to
showcase the En Foco exhibit.
Through their Permanent
Collection, diverse art installations
and publications, education
programs, and initiatives, El
Museo actively seeks to encourage
PHOTO COURTESY OF EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO
visitors of all backgrounds
to explore and experience their
carefully curated landscape-
showcasing the lives of many
of New York’s most infl uential
communities.
Since its offi cial opening in
November, the exhibit’s reception
has been incredible. “It’s
fascinating how people fi nd
them so contemporary and inspiring,”
Temkin said.
In addition to the complete
selection of photographs, the
installation will feature posters,
catalogs, a photo book that includes
replicated images of the
show and historical texts, as well
as other material detailing the
relationship between En Foco
and El Museo del Barrio.
“It’s urgent to make it available
now to new generations of
museumgoers,” said Temkin,
“so they can connect with works
historically relevant in the discussions
around cultural identity
and community-oriented
photography.”
El Museo del Barrio is located
at 1230 5th Avenue. For more
information, visit elmuseo.org.
Martha Graham Dance Company
returns to City Center Dance
BY ESTHER WICKHAM
As a part of the inaugural
City Center Dance Festival,
Martha Graham
Dance Company will return to
New York City April 6-10.
Choreographies labeled “shining
and joyous” and “a testimony
to the simple fi nesses of the human
spirit” by the New York
Times, will be featured during
the company’s season.
The Martha Graham Dance
Company masterworks Appalachian
Spring and Chronicle.
Appalachian Spring will feature
a luminous score by Aaron Copland
and a spare set by Graham’s
long-time collaborator
Isamu Noguchi. Chronicle is a
performance by the company’s
women created as a response to
the rise of fascism in Europe; its
underlying theme of political activism
continues to reverberate
today. Both productions will be
performed live by the Mannes
Orchestra conducted by David
Hayes.
This season will also feature
the world premiere of CAVE
by UK-based choreographer
Hofesh Shechter. Produced
with Studio Simkin,CAVE is
performed by ten Graham dancers
and international ballet star
Daniil Simkin.
“It has been my absolute pleasure
and honor to work with the
Graham Company—a group of
incredibly talented, generously
hardworking, humble, and fully
committed dancers who connected
with my work fully, a
work that is made to stir and
inspire the driving beat of the
body, and by that to awaken
that euphoric human spirit with
a sense of togetherness,” said
Shechter. “I couldn’t have hoped
for a better match than these
fi erce dancers for this work.”
The New York premiere of
Canticle for Innocent Comedians
created by eight different
choreographers, including Sonya
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
Tayeh, Sir Robert Cohan
and Jenn Freeman, will also
occur this season. The 1952
original work was built around
eight virtuous vignettes that
celebrated a different aspect of
nature and our relationship to
it. Therefore, each vignette was
created by eight choreographers
of diverse dance backgrounds.
The premiere of these new
works will take place during
separate programs and galas on
April 6, 7, 9 and 10, at 131 West
55th St., between 6th and 7th
Avenues in Midtown.
28 February 24, 2022 Schneps Media
/elmuseo.org
