Publications

RicanWritings

Para Gaza, con amor: arte para un pueblo en sanación perpetua

May 18, 2026

El arte es voz de la justicia social—permite concientizar y tender puentes entre culturas de manera empoderadora.… Learn More

RicanWritings

A Call to Remember: Bad Bunny’s El espectáculo de medio tiempo del ...

May 11, 2026

Editor’s note: All images included in this text are screenshots from the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime… Learn More

RicanWritings

Excerpts from “Archiving the Intangible” by Herbert Durán featured ...

April 24, 2026

Victor Fernández Fragoso Papers. Special Edition of “Aquí”: ViFr_b01_f10_0001_pg01. Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library & Archives,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Trains collide: The 1981-82 University of Puerto Rico student strike

April 07, 2026

Part one of a four-part series. In September 1981, students at the flagship Río Piedras campus of… Learn More

RicanWritings

This photo is documentation of audiences wearing the weeping masks as part of a public performance of "I came here to weep," July 2023, at the outdoor amphitheater at Abrons Arts Center.

Exorcising Memory: Yanira Castro and the Choreography of Liberation

February 06, 2026

Imagine this: a huge red mural stretches across the façade of a building, with bold black letters… Learn More

RicanWritings

Green foliage peaking over colorful breeze blocks.

More than meets the I: The link between perspectives and lived spac...

January 30, 2026

As I am sitting near the pool table of one of Rio Piedras’s oldest bars, El Boricua,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Un encuentro en el archipiélago

January 29, 2026

El altar, parte de la exhibición de la artista visual Jomary Ortega, residente del encuentro. Imagen: Sthephanie Ríos.… Learn More

RicanWritings

Tarp and produce nets embroidered and beaded onto an orange floral quilted comforter.

Un edredón para los turistas: An analysis into the discomfort of di...

January 23, 2026

FEMA Tarps and USACE Blue Roofs Aid in Protecting Homes From Further Damage Release Date: October 19,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Black and white photos of women wearing dresses surrounding a Venus statue.

The right to exist: Pablo Delano’s reclamation of colonial history

January 16, 2026

Porto Rico non existe! – exclaimed a frustrated mail clerk in Italy. I had been visiting a… Learn More

RicanWritings

Distorted self-portrait of the artist in the mirror. Their face is morphed into four squished-together faces. Their body remains mostly untouched.

Confronting authenticity and self-reflection in Gabriella Torres-Fe...

January 15, 2026

The mirror often provokes profound and unsettling feelings of discomfort. Its reflective surface confronts us with rarely… Learn More

RicanWritings

Ceramic pink orifices lined up on the wall in neat rectangles.

El roto como retrato: Roberto Márquez Jorge and the Inversion of Po...

January 09, 2026

It is clear that the world is purely parodic, in other words, that each thing seen is… Learn More

RicanWritings

"[This] painting is a symbol of US-American colonialism. The house in the painting is emblematic of my Great-Grandmother's house in Patillas, Puerto Rico." - Saint Electric. The painting depicts a pink skeleton looming over a small orange house.

Memory, Space, [Be]longing: The Artistic Production of Estefanía Va...

January 02, 2026

Her childhood memories are the raw material Estefanía Vallejo Santiago uses in her artistic production. To be… Learn More

RicanWritings

Five framed landscape paintings lined up on a wall. Each one is a mountain painted in an unnatural color with a corresponding unnaturally colored sky.

Material Cosmos: A Conversation with Gisela Colón

December 16, 2025

In an increasingly militarized world marked by ever escalating colonial contradictions, apathy and hyper-individualism have become the… Learn More

RicanWritings

The digital plane map inside a plane. The light it gives off is blue.

André Marcel Pagán - Untitled (2022)

December 16, 2025

Anyone who has traveled by airplane has seen the seatback screens that provide on-board entertainment. These have… Learn More

RicanWritings

Three cows painted in bright colors in front of a sprawling green landscape.

Diasporican Art in Motion: Interview with artist Marisol Ruiz

December 16, 2025

A lot of times when something shows up in a painting, it’s because I’ve been thinking about… Learn More

RicanWritings

Image of geometric art work with alternating grey and blue sideways triangles.

Efrén Candelaria

December 16, 2025

In the ever-evolving landscape of Puerto Rican art, few voices carry the depth, rigor, and emotional honesty… Learn More

RicanWritings

"I show myself multiple as a cloned army, with a marked face, with scars, tattooed with images, photos..." - Brenda Cruz Díaz

Interviewing Artist Brenda Cruz Díaz

December 16, 2025

Brenda Cruz Díaz is a woman of many hats. She is an interdisciplinary artist, (art) historian, and… Learn More

RicanWritings

Vejigante sitting in a tree. The chest of the figure is filled with colorful shapes.

Elisa Dore and the Figure of the Vejigante as a Reclaiming of her P...

December 15, 2025

The themes of Puerto Rican-ness and Puerto Rican identity are common in my work, and a lot… Learn More

RicanWritings

The Fire We Share: On Anthem of Evaporated Tears

December 11, 2025

A review of the poetry collection by Xavier Valcárcel, translated by Roque Raquel Salas Rivera When I… Learn More

RicanWritings

A family bookshelf with photos and figurines. Some objects include rosaries, cassette tapes, books, small clocks, and a teacup.

Andina Marie Osorio

December 09, 2025

On April 10th, 2025, I sat down via video call with artist Andina Marie Osorio and talked… Learn More

RicanWritings

"Large mixed media painting. An abstracted kitchen with a running leak and magnetic fridge with word magnets where the viewer can jumble the Puerto Rican anthem in spanglish to create a new poem." - Misla

MISLA

December 09, 2025

Upon encountering Misla’s work, one may well be getting a glimpse into a very personal, yet instantly… Learn More

RicanWritings

"This is an oil painting based on the design of the Rider-Waite tarot card 'The Fool'" - Isabella Mellado. A person wearing a vejigante mask holds hibiscus flowers in each hand. They wear a yellow shirt with the progress pride flag on the right side of the shirt and a Taino symbol on the left. They stand ankle deep in thick grass with their back to a tree that has "The Fool" tarot card nailed to it. Mountains are sprawling in the background against a bright blue sky.

The Fool: A Journey between Identities

December 09, 2025

The Fool (2024) by the Puerto Rican artist, Isabella Mellado, is a large format oil painting featuring… Learn More

RicanWritings

A blue wooden cabinet with paintings and keepsakes inside.

Diasporican Art: An Interview with Beatriz Amelia Whitehill

December 09, 2025

Raised in Boston, Massachusetts, twenty-six-year-old diasporic artist, Beatriz Whitehill carries Puerto Rico in every step she takes.… Learn More

RicanWritings

Amanda Carmona Bosch: In Transit, Against the Current

December 09, 2025

Amanda Carmona Bosch is a rara avis in the history of Puerto Rican art. In her work, her language,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Green landscape with houses on the mountainside. In the foreground there is a dark wood tree. "The tocororo (Cuban trogon) perches on the highest branch of the tree." - Miguel Trelles

Miguel Trelles Hernández’ Tocororo (2018); What Does Puerto Rican A...

November 15, 2025

Miguel Trelles Hernández grew up on a diet of comic books, novels, and films. That sense of fantasy… Learn More

RicanWritings

Remembering Rafael Hernández: A Reflection on “Preciosa”

October 20, 2025

Sitting in my living room like so many other Puerto Ricans watching the live stream of Bad… Learn More

RicanWritings

"Digitally collaging a photographic scene of models wearing ceramic and cloth garments with additional visuals of ceramic work" - Gabby Vazquez

Weaving with Memories: Mapping Gabby Vázquez’s Journey Towards Cult...

October 16, 2025

Gabrielle “Gabby” Vázquez is a creative researcher born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents. She… Learn More

RicanWritings

The More Things Change… Growth, Public Goods, and Hispanic Displace...

September 22, 2025

Once again, the state of New York is asking Hispanic families to bear the inordinate costs of… Learn More

RicanWritings

A white dress patterned with text and lace.

Embodying Gabrielle Vázquez

August 19, 2025

Gabrielle Vázquez is having a lot more fun than you or me. Equal parts artist and art,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Yellow painting with two green borders. The center of the painting has a red square. Underneath the canvas, a cube pushes to the surface.

Causas y efectos según el artista Lope Max Díaz

August 14, 2025

La obra se ha caído. Ha rebotado con el suelo. Su color se ha nivelado al fondo,… Learn More

RicanWritings

NUEVAYol: afterimages for the diaspora

August 13, 2025

The much-anticipated video for Bad Bunny’s song “NUEVAYoL” premiered on the Fourth of July, an auspicious release… Learn More

RicanWritings

Dried palm with attached car air-freshener trees hanging over a branch of bananas/platanos. Under the overhang there is a golden steering wheel, groceries, and dominos. On the wall behind it all there is a bold tapestry of trees.

Memories Through Our Things

August 11, 2025

Collage is derived from the French verb coller, meaning “to stick” (Nguyen, 2024). Ephemeral evidence is rarely… Learn More

RicanWritings

A close up grayscale photo of artist Natalia Lassalle-Morillo standing in front of a tree with her hands behind her head. She looks at the camera with a neutral expression.

Rican(actments): Mourning, Kinship, and Existential Waiting in Nata...

August 07, 2025

The coquí frogs’ chirping fills the audible space before any voices do. It’s a familiar noise for… Learn More

RicanWritings

Large red gates common in Puerto Rican culture intersect to create a corner.

Boundaries of Belonging: Reclaiming Place through Memory and Archit...

August 05, 2025

The idea of place—a space where we belong—is a constant subject for many of us. For Afro-Puerto… Learn More

RicanWritings

Mural of people cooking. Food is in spoons and bowls.

Health & Wellness in the Community: The Art of Cindy Lozito

July 31, 2025

Arrivals Cindy Lozito is a South Philadelphia-based visual storyteller, creating comics, illustrations, and murals that speak to… Learn More

RicanWritings

Painting of a man burning in a patch grass.

Fuego y Cimarronaje en la obra Quema’o #3 del artista Jean “Baco” O...

July 29, 2025

En el celebrado y destacado libro Esclavos Rebeldes. Conspiraciones y sublevaciones en Puerto Rico (1795-1873), el historiador… Learn More

RicanWritings

Mangroves painted in oranges and greens. Viewed from below.

Mi amigue el mangle: Un reencuentro con la obra migratoria de Lauri...

July 23, 2025

Un invierno de 2022 recibí una llamada de la artista visual puertorriqueña Laurie De Jesús Lagares, quien… Learn More

RicanWritings

Orange drawing of roots taking hold of the bright ground.

A Reflection on the Work of Artist Bibiana Suárez

July 22, 2025

Bibiana Suárez, born and raised in Puerto Rico and now based in windy city Chicago, blows the… Learn More

RicanWritings

Installation shot of both Precario and Disertacion criolla.

Cocinando Suave: On the Visual Metaphor of Josué Guarionex

July 17, 2025

With Precario (2023), a chair-like sculpture constructed from discarded pieces of wooden furniture, Puerto Rican-born, New York-based… Learn More

RicanWritings

A digitally compiled image of four photographs. A bookshelf holds framed photographs and relics of the artist’s father, with some items on the floor. One photo shows a black-and-white Puerto Rican flag, a woman standing in front of a door, and a framed Puerto Rican flag in front of her, with office supplies below and a smaller framed Puerto Rican flag below. An image of a notebook with PR PASSION in orange lettering and a blue outline overlaps this photo. Another image features trinkets, a stuffed bear, and a projector on a chair where her father last sat, projecting a Bacardi bottle. Tola’s Room is written in white on a red square in the bottom left. A yellow backdrop frames the images.

Not Your Typical House Museum: Puerto Rican Space Making through Ar...

July 16, 2025

I first met Christina in 2018. We were Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellows at the Caribbean Cultural Center… Learn More

RicanWritings

Ink drawing of medical diagrams, figures, text, on a green background.

Con ES-MERO: La línea La línea diversificada y meticulosa de Pseudo...

July 10, 2025

“Cuando una obra tiene una sola interpretación para todo el que la mira, no es una obra de… Learn More

RicanWritings

A bowl, grater, and various tools mixed with root vegetables and platanos are set in a radial position in the middle of concentric charcoal circles on canvas.

(Re)mejunje: In Conversation with Valeria Tizol Vivas

July 08, 2025

To say remejunje:requemar begins or ends with a particular gesture would be misleading. Throughout the performance, Valeria… Learn More

RicanWritings

A bartender looks sadly into the distance.

In Direction of the Sun: An analysis of the monochromatic high key ...

July 03, 2025

Since color became the default in cinema, using black-and-white is now a deliberate choice (Misek, 2010). In… Learn More

RicanWritings

Installation of works that look like the square and blocky aerial view of farmland from a plane.

Navigating Noise, Diasporic Mappings, and Ruptured Spaces: The Prac...

July 01, 2025

Nayda Collazo-Llorens (b.1968, San Juan, PR) is an artist based in Michigan who works on paper, canvas,… Learn More

RicanWritings

A layered quilted collage of flowers, people, and rainbows.

Digging Deep: The Archeology of Identity in Amber Robles-Gordon’s Art

June 26, 2025

Working in the arts was something I never envisioned for myself, considering my background as a Human… Learn More

RicanWritings

Collage on paper of images of Puerto Rican flags, religious figures, someone wearing sandals, colorful paper, and seashells. There is a note in the middle that reads "Your sad eyes always radiates/ed a smile/s. Your hands always healing and your soul ever forgives/ing. Your feet righteously grounded. I was so blessed but now I'm missing you now Mommy I am so thirsty now. All that you are is/was gone/joy."

Collage as Common Ground: Juan Sánchez’ "Poema para Mami" (2013)

June 24, 2025

So many things are familiar to me in this image: the chanclas, a staple of my childhood,… Learn More

RicanWritings

Decorated and painted spiked mace weapons sit on pink display boxes in a gallery.

Arming the Contemporary Through Memory and Fantasy: A Look at Tools...

June 19, 2025

If one was to enter the Caribbean history wing at a museum, assuming said museum would even… Learn More

RicanWritings

Three women, two with fluffy dresses and one with a patterned blouse sits on a couch at home.

Christopher López’s Hoboken Fires: From Ashes, a Counter-Archive Em...

June 16, 2025

On October 25, 1981, Ana Mercado lost her life along with her father, husband, and four children.… Learn More

RicanWritings

An image of the interior of a plane. A sand pile in the shape of a child sits in one of the plane chairs.

The Formation of Islets as a Metaphor Against Distance and Oblivion...

June 13, 2025

Islands arise through dynamic geological processes, including volcanic activity, tectonic plate shifts, and erosion. These forces not… Learn More

RicanWritings

Culture Under Siege: Policing Culture

May 29, 2025

What happens when the state attempts to regulate culture under the guise of protection? In our latest… Learn More

RicanWritings

Palestine in the Nuyorican Literary Imagination: Pedro Pietri’s “Wi...

April 21, 2025

Tomorrow will always be / Within reach of us all // Because the many are / Plenty… Learn More

RicanWritings

Reseña Debí Tirar Más Fotos (2025) por Bad Bunny

March 10, 2025

Uno de los coros más populares en la época Navideña en mi Puerto Rico es la canción… Learn More

RicanWritings

Hoy Te Recuerdo: Mapping Femicides in Puerto Rico

February 10, 2025

Adrianna Ríos has developed an interactive Google Map documenting femicides in Puerto Rico between January 2021 and… Learn More

RicanWritings

Aquí y allá: Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rico, and the 2024 Elections

December 16, 2024

Puerto Ricans were in the national spotlight during the last weeks of the US presidential campaign at… Learn More

RicanWritings

A mosaic of a bomba dancer moving her red dress. The sky is starry and blue.

An East-Harlem–Diasporic–Renaissance: Manny Vega at the Museum of t...

November 18, 2024

captured by author Carlos Ortiz Burgos in Nov. 2024 Learn More

RicanWritings

Inaugurating RicanWritings: A Ceremony for Relations

October 14, 2024

In a time where the humanities, ethnic studies, books, and even knowledge itself are being banned, regulated,… Learn More