Bieké: Tierra de Valientes
For over sixty years, the US Navy used Vieques, the island municipality of the archipelago of Puerto Rico for weapons testing and the practice of military maneuvers. Before that they had used the island of Culebra just north of Vieques. The people successfully ended the maneuvers in Culebra in 1975 and in Vieques on May 1st, 2003. Bieké: Tierra de Valientes (Vieques: Land of braves) was conceived three years after the US Navy's Camp Garcia base closed in Vieques. 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 research trips. What I encountered on that island was a guide for resistance, struggle, nationhood and liberation. My time there revolutionized my political views, my life, vision and work. Ultimately, Vieques inspired me to leave New York City, where I was born and raised, and move to the archipelago. But first came the powerful experience of researching, creating and sharing this project which I still consider my most important work, and which informs the work that I do today, sixteen years later.
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 watershed events in Vieques’ recent history and the island’s present struggles.
The Cemí series envisions both Ángel and David—along with others lost in this struggle—as transcendent spirits in colors inspired by the glowing phenomenon of Vieques' famed bioluminescent bay. 2009 was the first time I painted a representation of bioluminescence over dark backgrounds for this project. Today my artwork and Mayagüez art space, CucubaNación, is centered on Boricua bioluminescence, a practice that I conceived in Vieques’ bioluminescent waters in 2006.
The Valientes series, features portraits of various Vieques activists, 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.
To have interviewed the folks in the artworks, having their own words and stories inform the artworks; to debut the exhibit in their community with an opening reception mostly attended by the people I painted, their families, loved ones and friends present was a blessing in crafting, early on in my career, a precedent for the artist I would be. I researched and painted these works while being pregnant with and nursing my first son. Robert Rabin continued to extend the exhibit until April 2010 when it finally closed. Two weeks later, my brother ended his battle with cancer. One of the installations, “Contaminados” uses the bags of my brother’s cancer treatment medications. It was dedicated to the disproportionate number of Viequenses battling cancer. In 2022, months before I opened CucubaNación, Robert Rabin ended his own battle with cancer. The artworks are still at El Fortín in Vieques and were exhibited again in 2023 for the twentieth anniversary of the closing of the base. I aways say that Borikén, the island I live on, that my parents and ancestors were born on is the womb, but Vieques is the cervix, the doorway to this portal. I am ever grateful to her, to her light, to her valiant people and her glowing ancestors.
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.
19 de abril, David Sanes Rodríguez
On April 19, 1999, Viequense David Sanes Rodríguez was killed when a US Navy pilot missed his target dropping two 500-pound bombs on the observation point where David worked as a civilian guard. He happened to be covering a shift for his friend that day. This tragedy became the catalyst for the last 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, I share this video I created using interview footage, photos, newspaper clippings and my own artwork gathered for my Bieké project back from 2006-2009. The work 19 de abril, details events of that date with his relatives. Not included in this video is how 2 years after David's murder, his mother, Epifania Rodríguez died, exactly on the anniversary of her son, from a broken heart it is said.
Click on the thumbnails to view a lightbox with captions…
“Bieké Sobresaliente,” 2016. Galería Betances, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Four acrylic paintings on camouflage fabric and my boys' camouflage pants (size 3T and 4T) barbed wire, found wood. Approx 3' x 5'. Sobresalientes (meaning outstanding) are images of Vieques youth and its environment, rising from the camouflage, leaving a military history behind.
“Esperanza” 2016. Detail of the Bieké Sobresaliente installation. Acrylic paint on my son's camouflage pants (size 3T). This image is of a little girl I once saw playing in Esperanza beach when I was six months pregnant with my first son and still researching for my Vieques project in 2008. Sobresalientes (meaning outstanding) are images of Vieques youth and its environment, rising from the camouflage, leaving a military history behind.
(L) “Caballos Monte Carmelo,” (R) “Caballos Sombé.” 2016 Bieké Sobresaliente series. Acrylic on camouflage fabric. Each of these images shows Vieques horses emerging from the camouflage. Vieques' environment stands out (sobresale), while its militarized past recedes.
“Contaminados,” 2009, Bieké series. Fuchsia Papelillo (Trinitaria) flower petals in 10 of my brother's Chemotherapy drug transport bags, 7' x 4'. Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol, Vieques, Puerto Rico. This is a commentary on the contamination & cancer rates resulting from 60+ years of the US Navy's bomb practices on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. My brother in NYC, who was so supportive of my work and this project, collected these bags in anticipation of this installation. He underwent an auto stem cell transplant during the exhibit's run but unfortunately passed two weeks after the exhibit closed.
“Basta,” 2009. Installation: Acrylic on US military tent, Approx 10' x 8'. Chain link fencing, wire cutters and military debris. This 2009 edition of my Basta installation (originally created at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in NY) was part of the Bieké exhibit in Vieques. The torn fences represent the people of Vieques when they cut down fences demarcating civilian properties from those taken by the US military. The military items were collected by Vieques activist Robert Rabin in the former bombing range.
Military debris detail, basta. “Basta,” 2009. Installation: Acrylic on US military tent, Approx 10' x 8'. Chain link fencing, wire cutters and military debris. This 2009 edition of my Basta installation (originally created at the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in NY) was part of the Bieké exhibit in Vieques. The torn fences represent the people of Vieques when they cut down fences demarcating civilian properties from those taken by the US military. The military items were collected by Vieques activist Robert Rabin in the former bombing range.
Vieques school children with Basta installation by Yasmin Hernandez. ” 2009. Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol, Vieques, PR.
Detail, “Basta” 2007. Acrylic on drab green US military canvas tent, approx 8' x 10'. This painting is of Yaurel Figueroa, who was 9 years old at the time. I met him with his dad and uncle at an encampment in Vieques protesting the intended privatization of a local beach back in 2006. His parents Emilio Figueroa and Elda Guadalupe Carasquillo are activists concerned with the health of their children. Now a young man, Yaurel has won Judo championships, has his own music career and was recently the stunt double running with the Puerto Rican flag in Bad Bunny’s video, “LA MuDANZA.”
Detail, “Basta” 2007. Acrylic on drab green US military canvas tent, approx 8' x 10'. This painting is of Yaurel Figueroa, who was 9 years old at the time. I met him with his dad and uncle at an encampment in Vieques protesting the intended privatization of a local beach back in 2006. His parents Emilio Figueroa and Elda Guadalupe Carasquillo are activists concerned with the health of their children. Now a young man, Yaurel has won Judo championships, has his own music career and was recently the stunt double running with the Puerto Rican flag in Bad Bunny’s video, “LA MuDANZA.”
Detail, Puerto Rico and Vieques flags alongside inverted US stamp. “Basta” 2007. Acrylic on drab green US military canvas tent, approx 8' x 10'.
Detail, fence and warning sign. “Basta,” 2007. Mixed media installation at the Jamaica Center of Arts & Learning, New York City. Following my 2006 trip to Vieques, even though the US Navy had closed their base three years earlier, it struck me to see fences with these warning signs in so many areas, still marking military property. I created the installation within a fence and included a similar sign made for this exhibition in Jamaica, Queens, NY.
Fence detail. “Basta,” 2007. Mixed media installation at the Jamaica Center of Arts & Learning, New York City. Following my 2006 trip to Vieques, even though the US Navy had closed their base three years earlier, it struck me to see fences in so many areas, still marking military property. I created the installation within a fence for this exhibit Jamaica, Queens, NY.
I took this photo of long-time activist Ismael I took this 2006 photo of long-time activist Ismael Guadalupe in one of the magazines where weapons were stored by the US Navy on Vieques’ west end.
During a 2008 trip, I took this photo of boys running past magazines where the US Navy used to store weapons on Vieques’ west end.
On the 9th anniversary (April 19th, 2008) of the death of David Sanes Rodriguez, we entered the bombing range on Vieques, still full of piles of bombs of the US Navy.
This photo was taken on November 11th, 2008, the 29th anniversary of the death of Angel Rodrguez Cristobal, a Ciales activist arrested for protesting the US Navy in Vieques. Five months pregnant with my first son at the time, I was repainting the pedestal on which his bust rests overlooking Esperanza Bay. Also working on the restoration is Bandidaje in the background, one of the activists I painted.
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. The world flips in the evening. Dark seas become become the heavens with sea creatures as constellations. The dark cosmos is home of the sacred ancestors and gods: the cemís, hence the name of the series. Those featured are viequenses who have passed, sacred ancestors in this continued struggle. I painted them in the blue-green glows of Vieques' famed bioluminescent bay, shining like the sacred spirits they are.
Cemí
“Ángel Cemí” 2009. Bieké-Cemí series, Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on black fabric, 60 x 30". Ángel Rodríguez Cristobal was a socialist activist from Ciales Puerto Rico. Involved in the struggle for peace & justice in Vieques, he was arrested in 1979 as part of the Vieques 21. He was sent to prison in Tallahassee, Florida where he turned up dead in his prison cell on Veteran's Day. It was said that he committed suicide, yet an autopsy revealed injuries on his back, indicating he had been attacked. Los Macheteros avenged his death, attacking a US Navy bus in Sabana Seca, PR.
“David Cemí” 2009. Bieké-Cemí series, Yasmín Hernández. Acrylic on black fabric, 60 x 30”. David Sanes Rodríguez, from a large, well-known family in Vieques, worked as a civilian guard near Observation Point 1 in the US Navy bombing range on Vieques’ east end. On April 19th, 1999 he had the day off from work, but was called by a co-worker asking if he could please cover his shift. He agreed to do so, but when it was time to leave to work, David seemed reluctant. During the bombing maneuvers that day, a pilot missed his target by several miles. Two 500-pound bombs fell on the OP, wounding several employees and killing David Sanes Rodríguez. The Sanes tragedy opened up a new era in the Vieques struggle in which the protestors transcended party lines and political persuasions, uniting in the struggle to end the military maneuvers in Vieques, which they succeeded in ending on May 1st, 2003.
“Epifania Cemí” 2009. Bieké-Cemí series, Yasmín Hernández. Acrylic on black fabric, 30" x 20". "Cuando David cumplió los dos años, ahi falleció mi mamá porque ella nunca superó la muerte de mi hermano." (4/19/1999-4/19/2001) -Magdalena Sanes. (On David's two-year anniversary my mother died because she was never able to overcome the death of my brother.) While many know the name of David Sanes Rodríguez, few know that his mother Epifania passed away on the second anniversary of her son being killed by the bombing range. This work includes the work of Magdalena, sister and daughter.
"Carmelo Cemí" 2009, Bieké-Cemí series, Yasmín Hernández. Acrylic on black fabric, 20" x 30". "Carmelo puede ser cualquier de nosotros. Todo Puerto Rico es un Monte Carmelo, Tierra del valiente.... Tenemos aquí evidencia de que nadie, ningún país, ninguna fuerza puede ser omnipotente. ¡Dile a mi pueblo que marche!"-Carmelo Felix Matta. Also included on the painting is a quote from his widow María: “Mi negrito levantó las manos pa'l cielo y se le veían las lagrimas y llorando decía, 'Gracias Papa Dios. ¡Ahora me puedo ir tranquilo porque vi tu justicia!' Se fue la marina en el 2003. El murió en el 2005." -María Felix Matta, viuda de Carmelo. Carmelo and María fell in love as two displaced Viequenses living in Saint Croix and decided to return to build their home and start a family. Needing land to do so, Carmelo took some back from the US Navy. He repeated this process for other families, clearing lands taken by the US military, so families could use them. One such community (there are three) was named after him: Monte Carmelo. Today these communities that Carmelo founded, by reclaiming lands rightfully for Viequenses, are being coveted by the US again via colonial settlers and gentrification.
“Milivy Cemí” 2009. Bieké-Cemí series. Yasmín Hernández. Acrylic on black fabric, 30” x 20”. Milivy Adams Calderón fought the bravest battle against cancer, becoming a symbol for the Vieques struggle for peace & justice. With disproportionate cancer rates related to military weapons contamination, Milivy passed from leukemia on November 17th, 2002. She was just five years old. I interviewed her mother for this project on her anniversary, November 17, 2008, while I was five months pregnant with my first son. During the interview she shared a gut-wrenching observation her mother had which proved to be a prophecy. While admiring baby Milivy one day, her grandmother said to her own daughter, “I’m afraid that you will love her too much. This little girl is way too beautiful to inhabit this earth. This is an angel.” I included those words on the painting. Inspired by Vieques’ famed bioluminescent bay, I painted her as the radiant spirit that she is.
Efrain y Jossie, siblings of Ángel Rodríguez Cristobal, the Ciales-born Vieques activist found murdered in his prison cell on Veterans Day, 1979. This photo was taken on the 30th anniversary of his death at my Bieké exhibition at El Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol in Vieques in 2009.
Magdalena Sanes stands alongside my portraits of her brother David Sanes Rodríguez and their mother Epifania. Both died on April 19th, (1999 and 2001 respectively.) Bieké: Tierra de Valientes. El Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol, Vieques, PR, October 2009.
For the October 10th, 2009 opening of my Bieké exhibition at El Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol in Vieques, most of the people I painted were in attendance. I was surprised however when Carmelo Felix Matta’s brother, whom I had never met, showed up to the opening deliberately dressed as his brother as he was captured in the painting. It almost looked like a portrait of him. He thanked for me paying tribute to his brother in this way.
Zuleyka Calderón stands alongside my portrait of her daughter Milivy Adams Calderón, who became a symbol of peace of justice when she died of leukemia at just five years old. I also painted Zuleyka as part of the Valiente series.
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 symbolizes the farmer and also 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 Puerto Rican liberation activists. 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 on its people and environment. Many 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. 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 the future without getting caught. In essence, 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 en los montes, reclaims camouflage for the valiant ones working for justice.
“Valiente Mimita”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Emma "Mimita" Rosado, whose interview left me mesmerized, spoke of the moment in which she saw Playa Grande, the area of Vieques that her family is from. She was seeing this land from the military raft that carried her along with other activists that had been arrested. She cried, recognizing that her family's homeland was seized by the Navy & though she was seeing it again, it was from afar, on a raft, under military police custody. During a time in which she lived in the states, and would be called “Puerto Rican” she would correct people, “Viequense first, then Puerto Rico.”
“Valiente Mirta”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". "Fuimos caminando hasta llegar allá a la zona de tiro. Nos acostamos en la orilla de la playa. Pues ahí, yo no sé como fue porque yo me acosté con mi mente en blanco. Ahí tuve un sueño con mi hermano, con David. David me decía: 'No te preocupe hermana que tu no estas sola. Mami y yo te estamos acompañando a ti y a tu grupo.' El que me arrestó a mi me preguntó quien yo era y yo le dije: '¡Yo soy la hermana del difunto David Sanes el que ustedes mataron con la bomba!” Mirta Sanes reveals her experience when she entered the bombing range in protest. While there she fell asleep & dreamt with her brother David, killed by 2 US Navy bombs in 1999. He told her not to worry, she wasn't alone. He and their mother were accompanying her and her group of women protestors.
“Valiente Jose”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". “Por la tarde sentí un presentimiento en mi. Pues yo sentí como que me rozaron por aquí al lao. Yo me asusté, me sacudí. Pues no le hice caso y volvió y me paso lo mismo. Como a los tres minutos llama mi prima y me pregunta por mi mai. Y yo le digo, ¿pues que esta pasando? Porque ella esta to’ nerviosa? 'Pues te voy a decir algo pero tu tiene que cogerlo con calma.' Cuando me dijo de tío yo me descontrolé por completo. Mirta’s son, José Montañez Sanes, details the moment he received a call from his cousin informing him of the death of his Uncle David Sanes, killed in the bombing range by US Navy bombs.
“Valiente Natra,” 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". “El pueblo tenia dos opciones, coger miedo, callarse o salir de frente.” (The people had two options, to fear/ be silent or to charge forward.) In his featured interview excerpt, Vieques lyricist/ rapper MC Natra describes having been attacked by US soldiers. He credits that incident for a rebirth, a feeling of freedom that has filled him ever since. From that day forward he is committed to fearlessly telling Vieques' truth.
“Valiente Lady M”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Lady M, a singer and rapper in her own right together with her husband MC Natra, describes the moment in which she learned that her he had been attacked by soldiers and the rage that came over her, learning of the consequences her husband suffered for defending their land. She states: “The moment arrives in which you decide to fight back no matter the consequences.”
“Valiente: Millo,” Bieké-Valiente series. Mixed media on camouflage, 20" x 30". Another powerful interview. In his 50s at the time, Millo had been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's. Still, he delivered one of the longest, fiercest interviews. A good part of it was spent discussing his disdain for the US involvement in Vietnam. He shared that he had renounced his Veteran's status because of it, even if it made him ineligible for health benefits he needed.
“Valiente Gladys”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Gladys is Portuguese but has spent most of her life in Vieques. Her involvement in the struggle came in the form of building la Fundación Milivy, benefiting children battling cancer. Hosting various annual events, among them is the Three Kings Day visit to the children's hospital in San Juan. Here she states that Milivy must have been her child in another existence because of how much love she felt towards her.
“Valiente: Zuleyka”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Zuleyka Calderon's little daughter Milivy became a symbol for peace in Vieques when she passed from leukemia at the age of 5. Zuleyka shares, "Thank God the Navy left and children no longer have to suffer, but the contamination in the environment remains. They left but the contamination is still there. Until they clean up, there will be more children and many more people falling ill. Today the US Navy continues its detonations as part of its “clean up” which release more contaminants into the air and environment.
“Valiente: Nilda”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". “En Vieques la gente le perdió miedo al imperio.” Activist and small business incubator creator, life partner of Robert Rabin, Nilda Medina speaks of resisting colonizer strategies that work to keep us divided, strategies that are damaging to our spirits. She states that with unity, transparency, we can build trust. She states that the people of Vieques no longer fear the imperialist.
“Valiente: Bob”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 30" x 20". Robert Rabin Siegal, activist, director of el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol, builder of el Archivo Histórico de Vieques, moved to Vieques from Boston, having spent most of his life as a Vieques resident. In this excerpt he speaks of the impact that the deaths of Angel Rodríguez Cristobal (1979) & David Sanes Rodríguez (1999) had on the struggle for peace & justice in Vieques. Robert is the person who offered the space for the exhibition of the Bieké: Tierra de Valientes project. After it was exhibited at el Fortín, 2009-10, he took the exhibit to two other local community spaces in Vieques, to la Universidad Interamericana in Fajardo and to la Universidad de Puerto Rico in Humacao. While at el Fortín he organized numerous school visits to see the exhibition, one which I did in person before the opening and the rest he would set up as a virtual call with me from New York in the museum conference space following a gallery tour. Like so many in Vieques, Robert ended his cancer battle in 2022.
“Valiente: Aleida”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Aleida Zenon speaks of the "hoyo", the military dump where they threw out perfectly good food and supplies. Kids would cut school to sneak into the hole to get food & supplies for their families. They avoided being caught & arrested by the soldiers by taking the camouflage clothing they found, using it to sneak in. The idea of "reclaiming camouflage" came from this statement. Aleida states that Vieques is twice colonized: by the US & Puerto Rico.
“Valiente: Zenon”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, collage, burlap on camouflage fabric. Approx 30" x 20". “Me fui voluntario a la edad de 17 años y medio al ejército de EEUU de América. ¿Por qué? Porque tenía que aprender su estrategia. Yo tenía que pensar como un militar cada vez que fuera hacer una estrategia en contra de ellos. Si yo no puedo pensar como un militar, yo estoy liquidao ¿entiende?” One of the most insightful, informative interviews during this project, Carlos “Taso” Zenon was a fisherman and activist committed to ending the Navy occupation of Vieques. This passion began when he was a child who, one day, intervening to help a woman who was being harassed by a sailor, was beaten by that sailor in retaliation and hospitalized. In this excerpt, Zenon speaks of voluntarily enlisting in the US military to gain inside information on how to better strategize against them. Taso became an ancestor in 2020 at the age of 85.
“Valiente Nestor”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Nestor Guishard is a teacher, activist and a steward of the bioluminescent bay in Vieques who served prison time for protesting the US Navy. He explained the origins of his community in Esperanza, home to many Yoruba afrodescendants. In this interview excerpt he describes the legacy of pro-Vieques activist Ángel Rodríguez Cristobal, killed in a prison cell in Tallahassee on Veteran's Day 1979 for protesting the US Navy.
“Valiente Norma”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 30" x 20". Portrait of the Vieques activist who is also a poet, artist and breast cancer survivor, Norma Torres Sanes. She is the wife of activist Ismael Guadalupe. The calligraphy features an excerpt from her interview in which she discusses the United States co-opting the term "America.” She discusses the many Americas (north, central and south) that fall under that category and clarifies how the US alone does not own rights to this term.
“Valiente Ismael” 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". In this interview excerpt, long time Vieques activist, Ismael Guadalupe, part of the Vieques 21 arrested in 1979 (along with Ángel Rodríguez Cristobal) speaks of the new invasion of Vieques. Describing how today's tourism industry is not in the hands of Viequenses but owned by outside businesses, he speaks of the need for Viequenses to empower themselves and secure their own future.
“Valiente: María”, Bieké-Valiente. Mixed media on camouflage, 30" x 20". Known as “Simplemente Maria”, María Velázquez Rijo was born in St Croix as many Viequenses were displaced by the US Navy. There she fell in love with Viequense Carmelo Felix Matta. Together they returned & he began bulldozing military properties, reclaiming them for young couples like themselves. He is the founder of several communities including Monte Carmelo, named after him. María had a plena group with her family. She would compose plenas about the struggle, most notable around their epic story of being saved by Carmelo’s bees when the US Navy came to evict them from their home. The bees drove the Navy personnel off the property. María states you had to be brave, not afraid of the feds, "es tierra de valientes."
“Valiente Bandidaje”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Mixed media on camouflage. “Señor juez, usted lo que tiene es un bandidaje conmigo.” (Your honor, what you have here with me is a banditry.” Known for his nickname, that came out of his court trial, for an accusation he put on the judge, folks on the street would greet him with, “¡Que Bandidaje!” In this interview excerpt, Bandidaje describes how Vieques suffers from the loss of its most precious resource: its youth. He speaks of the lack of opportunities that send young people flocking to other lands each year to pursue higher education and jobs and how oftentimes they don't return. Bandidaje himself would divide his time between Vieques and St Croix, one of the primary places Viequenses were displaced to during the Navy occupation.
“Valiente Mario”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 30" x 20". I met Mario Solis at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol in 2006. He was always eager to share history on the pieces in the collection and was most passionate about asserting Bieké's indigenous history beyond the Taíno people (dated 1200-... AD). Vieques holds the remains of a 4,000 year old indigenous man, testament to our long history before Columbus' arrival. He proudly wore this pendant of el condor andino, among Vieques’ most prized archaeological finds distinguishing its Huecoide culture which created these figures in semiprecious stones including jade around 300 BCE, long predating what is known as “Taíno.” Because there are no condors in the Antilles, these figures are testament to this culture’s connection to the Andes/ South America. What fascinated me about Mario was that he played in a steel drum band. I came to see Vieques as the link between Puerto Rico and our non-spanish-speaking Caribbean family. Mario passed from valiente to cemí shortly after this exhibit opened.
“Valiente Jorge Cruz”, 2009. Bieké: Valientes series. Acrylic, collage, burlap on camouflage fabric, 20" x 30". As the clock struck midnight on the eve of May 1st, 2003, the people demanded that the US Navy base be closed, but all remained the same. Enraged, they protested. In the end, five Viequenses were sent to federal prison in the US. Jorge was one of them, forced to leave his wife and family who could barely visit him. In this interview excerpt he speaks to how the US is still controlling Vieques. Describing seeing federal agents in Vieques upon his return from prison, he states,
“Valiente Don Rafa,” 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 30" x 20". "No pertence a ningun americano." Don Rafa's house was recognized by a lancha parked on his patio on the stretch of road between Isabel II and Esperanza. In this excerpt he speaks of the continued struggle for peace & justice, demanding that the lands formerly used by the US military be returned to the people of Vieques, the rightful stewards. Much of this property is still being held by the US government.
“Valiente Millito,” 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Millo, father of Yaurel, the boy that I painted on the military tent, was part of a group on horseback that guided protestors into the bombing range. He shared the experience of his arrest in his interview. In the featured excerpt, he emotionally describes a moment of being led through the prison in San Juan. They had been taken in through the back & had no idea that a huge manifestation was occurring out front. While being led down the hall shackled at the hands and feet (walking like a penguin as he described) he was able to get a glimpse at the crowd through a window & see the little faces of his two children. He said he wanted to break the chains.
“Valiente Blanca”, 2009. Bieké-Valiente series. Acrylic, burlap, collage on camouflage, 20" x 30". Blanca, Millito’s mother, reminisces on the time she entered the bombing range with a group of Vieques women. Upon their arrest, they were taken handcuffed in a bus chanting "Mujeres viequenses esas sí que son valientes." (Vieques women are courageous). She laughs at how the judge ordered them not to jump fences back into the bombing range. She stated that they could crawl under instead.
2009, Yaurel, son of Millito and Elda, stands alongside his portrait, created two years before. Today Yaurel is a young man who has won Judo Championships, has his own music career and was recently a stunt double running with the Puerto Rican flag in Bad Bunny's video to "LA MuDANZA."
Standing alongside the Basta painting with Millito and Elda, parents of Yaurel, featured in the painting. Bieké: Tierra de Valientes opening reception at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Blanca standing alongside her portrait at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
José and his son at the Bieké Opening in Vieques, October, 2009. (Photo:Mary Sefranek)
Jorge Cruz stands with his portrait at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Don Rafa stands with his portrait at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Simplemente María, Vieques activist María Velázquez Rijo, wife of Carmelo Felix Matta, stands alongside her portrait at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009. When she saw her portrait, she asked why I had painted her so serious, when she’s always smiling. Apparently, this photo is proof. María passed in 2015.
Standing alongside her portrait is Vieques activist, poet and artist Norma Torres Sanes at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Standing alongside her portrait is rapper/ singer/ activist Monica, AKA Lady M at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Standing alongside his portrait is Vieques activist/ rapper/ lyricist MC Natra at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Mario Solis and I at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009. He unfortunately passed shortly thereafter.
Miguel Barba standing alongside his portrait at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.
Mimita who captivated me with her interview, standing alongside her portrait at the opening reception of "Bieké: Tierra de Valientes" at el Museo Fuerte Conde de Mirasol en Vieques, October 10th, 2009.