Blueprints For a Nation

           On Friday, April 17th from 3-5pm in Herter Hall 601, Puerto Rican artist and activist ADÁL will be giving a lecture and exhibition. ADÁL has delivered his lecture, “Blueprints for a Nation: On the Road,” at many different locations since 2002.

           Adál Maldonado was born in 1948 in Utuado, Puerto Rico. He went to the San Francisco Art Institute and co-founded Foto Gallery with Alex Coleman. ADÁL has produced a number of books, novellas, and photo collections. One of his many endeavors was to provide role models for young Puerto Ricans, which he felt were few and rarely visible. To remedy this problem he created series of portraits of prominent Puerto Ricans. To learn more about the El Puerto Rican Embassy Project, which promotes sovereignty and identity for Puerto Ricans, visit the website.

             “Blueprints for a Nation: On the Road,” involves a collection of artifacts that are a part of the El  Puerto Rican Embassy Project.  ADÁL’s blog explains that this is “an artistic expression rooted on linguistic traditions as well as photographic and interdisciplinary practices, and a spiritual sanctuary where its citizens are empowered through their own creative intentions,” and “The creation of a conceptual space in response to the United State government’s refusal to acknowledge the political, social and cultural needs of Puerto Ricans as we enter the 21st Century.”

          Adál also has a project called Out of Focus Nuyoricans which he describes in his blog as “directly concerned with the Nuyorican [refers to the cluster of Puerto Ricans who live in the New York area] experience and the hybrid culture that’s resulted from our attempt to reconstruct our imperfect memories.” This blog includes fascinating interviews, comments on previous projects, plans for new projects, upcoming presentations, and various written works. Right now ADÁL is living in New York City and is developing a film called “Nuyorican Zombies Ate my Baby.”

         The University is honored to have this esteemed artist visiting our campus. This event was funded by a grant from the UMass Arts Counsel, in addition to support from the Studio Art Program, The Art History Program, The Program of Comparative Literature, and The Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies. For more information about this event, click here.

Sierra Simmons

4/14/09

srsimmon@student.umass.edu