Bieké: Tierra de Valientes
Painting the struggle for peace and justice in Vieques.
19 de abril
David Sanes Rodríguez
April 19, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary since the death of David Sanes Rodriguez. David was killed when a US Navy pilot missed his target dropping two 500-pound bombs on the observation point where he worked as a civilian guard. He happened to be covering a shift for his friend that day. This tragedy became the catalyst for the most recent wave of protests that finally led to the closing of Camp Garcia, the US military base on Vieques. Despite this victory of May 1st, 2003, the struggle for peace and political/ environmental justice on Vieques continues. In honor of this island and her valiant people, in commemoration of this tragic anniversary, I am sharing publicly, for the first time, this video I created using interview footage, photos, my own artwork gathered for my Bieké project back from 2006-2009. The work 19 de abril, speaks of the events of that date. Not included in this video is how 2 years after David's murder, his mother, Epifania Sanes died, exactly on the anniversary of her son, from a broken heart it is said.
Bieké: Tierra de Valientes (Vieques: Land of braves) was conceived three years after the shutting down of the US Navy's Camp Garcia in Vieques, Puerto Rico. I set out to learn more about the people still living in and fighting for Vieques after the wave of solidarity, the news cameras and celebrities had left. I arrived in the fall of 2006 for the first of a series of trips. What I encountered on that island was the ultimate manifestation of sacrifice, commitment and a guidebook for nationhood and liberation. Vieques was also the catalyst for a revolution in my life and work.
Bieké: Tierra de Valientes debuted as an exhibition of 30 portraits and installations in October 2009 at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol. The paintings are informed by a series of interviews that I conducted of over 30 Viequenses. Initiated in the wake of two commemorations—the loss of Ángel Rodríguez Cristóbal (November 11, 1979) and the loss of David Sanes Rodríguez (April 19, 1999), both lost as a result of the US Navy occupation —this project reflects on these two watersheds in Vieques’ recent history and the island’s present struggles. The cemí series envisions these two individuals--along with others marking significant losses in this struggle--as transcendent spirits in colors reminiscent of the glowing phenomenon of Vieques' famed bioluminescent bay. The valientes series, features portraits of various viequenses, alongside excerpts of their interviews. Created in mixed media the series reclaims camouflage, showcasing these warriors battling for peace and justice as the true honorable soldiers on Vieques' soil.
The Bieké project was made possible with grants from The Puffin Foundation, Ltd., NALAC Fund for the Arts, CUNY-Caribbean Exchange Program, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies and The George Sugarman Foundation.
Update Yaz:
to this date, I still consider this one of my most important projects. To have interviewed the folks in the artworks, having their own images, stories, words, as told by themselves, inform the portraits and to debut the exhibit in their community them and/ or their families and loved ones present! This experience in 2009, same year I became a mother, have marked me for the rest of my life and artist’s journey.
April 19, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary since the death of David Sanes Rodriguez. David was killed when a US Navy pilot missed his target dropping two 500-pound bombs on the observation point where he worked as a civilian guard. He happened to be covering a shift for his friend that day. This tragedy became the catalyst for the most recent wave of protests that finally led to the closing of Camp Garcia, the US military base on Vieques. Despite this victory of May 1st, 2003, the struggle for peace and political/ environmental justice on Vieques continues. In honor of this island and her valiant people, in commemoration of this tragic anniversary, I am sharing publicly, for the first time, this video I created using interview footage, photos, my own artwork gathered for my Bieké project back from 2006-2009. The work 19 de abril, speaks of the events of that date. Not included in this video is how 2 years after David's murder, his mother, Epifania Sanes died, exactly on the anniversary of her son, from a broken heart it is said.
El 19 de abril, 2019 son veinte años desde que un piloto de la marina de guerra estadounidense tiró dos bombas de 500 libras cada una, no en la tarjeta, sino en el punto de observación donde trabajaba el Viequense David Sanes Rodríguez. La muerte de este joven resultó en una amplia onda de protestas donde el pueblo proclamó "ni una vida más, ni una bomba más". Lograron cierrar la base militar del Campamento Garcia el primero de mayo del 2003, pero la lucha para la paz y la justicia politica y ambiental continua en Vieques. Como tributo a la isla de Vieques y su pueblo valiente, conmemorando a esta tragedia, comparto publicamente, por primera vez, este video utilizando excerptos de entrevistas, imagenes, y arte de mi proyecto Bieké del 2006 hasta el 2009. No incluido en este video es el importantísimo detalle que la madre de David fallece en el segundo aniversario de la muerte de su hijo, se dice de un corazón partido.
Vieques, arawak for “small island,” has a long indigenous history beyond the Taíno whose high period in the Greater Antilles is dated to be from 1200-1500 AD. In Vieques however, lie the remains of el Hombre de Puerto Ferro, an indigenous man dated to have lived 4,000 years ago. With these images, I reference indigenous cosmology, particularly the belief that the ocean is the dwelling place of spirits. In the evening the world would flip upside down and the dark seas would become the heavens with sea creatures as constellations. The heavens are the home of the sacred ancestors and gods: the cemies, hence the name of the series. Those featured are viequenses who have passed, sacred ancestors in this continued struggle. I have painted them in the blue-green glows of Vieques' famed bio-luminescent bay, shining like the sacred spirits they are.
Cemí
RECLAIMING CAMOUFLAGE
In 2006, I began painting on burlap, wanting to work with a material that would add more significance to my paintings. I use it as a symbol of the jíbaro past of Borikén that we see resurfacing slowly. Burlap is a symbol of the farmer, and of Babalu Aye, Yoruba orisha who guides over the sick and the poor. In 2007, with Archivos Subversivos, I combined burlap with manila file folders, examining the practice of government surveillance files kept on supporters of Puerto Rican liberation. That same year, I also painted my first Vieques piece, "Basta" on a canvas military tent. It was the first in working with materials referencing the US military to create a series of paintings exploring the impact that 60+ years of US Navy maneuvers on the island of Vieques had had on its people and its environment. I had known that many of the viequenses that entered the bombing range to force a halt of the maneuvers were better able to hide while wearing camouflage. In my interview with Aleida Encarnación I learned that camouflage had been used by the youth who would sneak into el "hoyo" a hole in which military personnel would dump food and supplies after their maneuvers. Young people would go in there to get clothing and cans of food to take home to their families, however they risked arrest in doing so. By taking camouflage gear from the "hoyo" they facilitated their ability to sneak back in in the future without getting caught. In essence, in Vieques the US military's camouflage became a tool of survival and resistance for the people still battling for peace and justice in their homeland. Valiente means brave. It was apparent that these viequenses valientes were the true honorable soldiers. I placed their burlap portraits over camouflage onto which I featured, in my own calligraphy, excerpts of their heartfelt narratives, shared with me in this series of over 30 intimate interviews that I conducted from 2006-2008. This series, like rebels in the montes, reclaims camouflage for the valiant ones that work to bring change.
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