Taíno
Treasures:
The
Legacy of
Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría
Tesoros Taínos:
La
Herencia del
Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría
February 4 - May 2, 2003
The
exhibition, Web site, and related programs have been made possible through
the generous support of The Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment
for the Humanities,
The New York Council for the Humanities, The Reed Foundation, Con Edison,
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, and the New York State Council
on the Arts
Acknowledgements
Agradecimientos
Susan Hoeltzel
Taíno
Treasures: The Legacy of Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría
Tesoros
Taínos: La Herencia del Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría
by Irvine R. MacManus, Jr.
Taíno
Art
Arte Taíno
by
Iván F. Méndez-Bonilla
Ricardo
E. Alegría: The Gift of Cultural Self-Awareness
Ricardo
Alegría: El Legado de Auto Conciencia Cultural
by Carmen Dolores Hernández
List
of artifacts/Lista de obras
Taíno Treasures: The Legacy of Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría
Organized by independent
curator Irvine Rafael MacManus and with the guidance of Dr. Ricardo Alegría,
Taíno Treasures is a collaboration with three insitiutions in Puerto
Rico and Lehman College Art Gallery/CUNY. The works have been borrowed
from to the Universidad del Turabo, Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanisticos;
the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, División de Arquelogía
y Arte; and the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Museo de Historia, Antropología
y Arte.
Taíno Treasures presents
fifty objects including ritual and religious artifacts, adornments, and
utilitarian objects which convey a sense of the culture and the work of
the Taíno artists and their ancestors living in the Greater Antilles
from 100 A.D. to 1500 A.D. The Taíno, people of the Arawakan linguistic
group who began to migrate to the Antilles from South America about twenty-five
hundred years ago, were the first indigenous people in the Americas to
encounter Spanish explorers. They lived in large permanent villages throughout
Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. Their
artists carved stone, wood, bone and shell. They were potters and weavers.
The exhibition includes axes, mortar and pestles, cups, and clay vessels.
Objects that shed light on the spiritual beliefs and forms of social organization
of the Taíno are also presented. The exhibition includes objects
carved with pictographs and geometric symbols that visually reference
Taíno mythology and worldview. Duhos, ritual seats, and zemis,
important spiritually charged religious objects representing Taíno
deities, are also included. Ball courts and games played a significant
role in ritual and community life for indigenous people throughout the
Americas and were an important part of the Taíno culture as well.
The exhibition will also include objects such as stone belts associated
with ball games.
This exhibition is also intended to introduce the exceptional career of Dr. Alegría, focusing on his Taíno archaeological discoveries, his writings, and his establishment of historic sites. Dr. Alegría’s multifaceted history of leadership in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, historic preservation, and folklore, and his lifelong commitment to the arts and letters has placed him among the outstanding men of the 20th century. His pioneering work with Dr. Irving Rouse of Yale was significant in establishing the archaeological record of the earliest indigenous inhabitants of the islands of the Caribbean. The extent of his contribution to the study, scholarship, excavation, restoration and exhibitions of archaeological sites has been invaluable and has provided a generation of young students with a richer understanding of the cultural history of the Caribbean.
During his career Dr. Alegría established 15 museums; played an instrumental role in the founding and development of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, restored numerous historic sites; created the blueprint that led to the preservation of Old San Juan and Ponce. Dr. Alegría’s contributions have earned him important recognition including the Frankle Prize from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Gold Picasso Prize for the creation of the City of San Juan’s Historic World Heritage Site, awarded by UNESCO, and the Smithson Medal by the Smithsonian Institution for 50 years of extraordinary contributions to the Arts and Letters and World Culture.
These programs have been made possible through the generous support of The Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, The New York Council for the Humanities, The Reed Foundation, Con Edison, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Symposium
Dr. Félix D. Matos Rodríquez, Director, Centro de Estudios
Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, moderator; Dr. Ivan Mendez, Director
of Archaeological Collections, University of Puerto Rico; Dr. Ovidio Dávila,
Director, Division of Archaeology, Institute of Puerto Rican Culture;
Dr. Carmen Dolores Hernandez, Dr. Alegría’s biographer, and
Xavier Totti, Department of Puerto Rican Studies, Lehman College.
|
|
|
|
