A community art project between artist Chemi Rosado Seijo and residents of the La Perla community.
Puerto Rico Poly/Graphic Commission: Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024
The event will take place on Saturday, September 7, 2024
Location La Perla Basketball Court, Bowl Area, Plaza de Güaypavo (güaypao)
Time 10 AM – 2PM/3PM
Traditional Chiringas Competition and Closing
Community Art Project History:
Chiringas Festival: Portrait of La Perla, is a community art project carried out in collaboration between artist Chemi Rosado Seijo and residents of the La Perla community in Old San Juan. Among other collaborators and volunteers of this project, Roberto Viruet, Luis Santiago, Keyla Baez, residents, as well as members of the Puerto Rico Chiringueros Association, Manuel Crespo (San Juan), Jose Martínez (Trujillo Alto), Juan Ortiz, stand out. (Cayey) and others. We also have the support of the La Perla Community Board and the community collective 'La Plaza del Negro', dedicated to the cultural reaffirmation of Negritude in the community through the education and celebration of the Puerto Rican Bomba, in the well-known plaza like La Plaza del Negro in La Perla. This group meets every Friday from 4:00 pm until late at night and provides space and workshops for dance, music, and creation of traditional Bomba instruments.
This alliance of people and organizations based in La Perla seeks to metaphorically elevate the community, through a collective process of creation, dissemination, teaching and celebration of the Chiringuera tradition in said community. This tradition dates back to the beginning of the last century, when the first chiringa festivals were held in the area, since the El Morro patio was militarized and there was no free access to it. As demonstrated by the archive photo from 1914, where several people show their chiringas to the camera during a festival held in said community.
This project began in 2014, when we held workshops for making traditional kites in different areas and sectors of the community, both in closed and open spaces. The La Perla Chiringas Festival has become a tradition, we have already held the event four times, and it is awaited by adults, young people and minors in the community. Due to the Pandemic and other effects of it, the Festival has not been held recently, and the neighbors are eager for it to happen again, since it is an activity where the community comes together, shows and shares, in a very special way for the residents of La Perla. It is also one of the favorite festivals of the master chiringa craftsmen, since people of all ages participate and the tradition they love so much is made visible.
As a community work methodology, the project will include holding workshops prior to the Festival for the making of handmade chiringas of all the types we know, as well as other new creations that the participants make. The workshops will be held in the six (6) different sectors of the community, leaving a mark on as many residents as possible.
The Project, Chiringas Festival: Portrait of the Pearl, 2024, celebrating 10 years of the project in La Comunidad, will begin with workshops in the different sectors of the community open to the public, during the three months prior to the Festival. In each workshop a master craftsman will show us how to make and fly traditional kites, in his preferred style, as well as support the various creations of the participants. The 6 workshops will also function as a methodology to create community and promote the Festival directly through the community. Additionally, during the morning of the Festival day, workshops will be held in three emblematic places in the community, where two Chiringas Master craftsmen and volunteers will offer workshops to the general public in each of the selected places. These workshop spaces will have tables and materials prepared for the creation of their traditional chiringa, which will then fly during the activity.
