CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library

Professor Nelson Santana launches a new exhibition documenting Transnational Dominican Activism in the 21st Century

Professor Nelson Santana standing in front of the exhibition “Transnational Dominican Activism” at Bronx Community College Library.

A new exhibit in Bronx Community College (BCC) showcases the transnational activism by the Dominican population in the cities of New York, Santo Domingo, and Santiago between 2009 and 2020. Titled “Transnational Dominican Activism: Documenting Grassroots Social Movements through ESENDOM,” the exhibit opened on October 27th, 2022 at Bronx Community College Library second floor.

The exhibition opening featured a panel discussion with BCC Dean of Academic Affairs Luis Montenegro, Professor Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi, Professor Nelson Santana, Chief Librarian Michael Miller, and ESENDOM’s personnel Emmanuel Espinal and John Carrero.

A recording of the panel can be viewed by clicking here.

“Transnational Dominican Activism” features the work of ESENDOM’s team of collaborators, including Amaury Rodríguez, John Carrero, Lorena Espinoza Peña, Emmanuel Espinal, and Nelson Santana. ESENDOM is a digital cultural platform founded by Emmanuel Espinal and Nelson Santana “that interweaves what we love about Dominican culture with current and past social issues that affect the Dominican community today.” This bilingual platform has documented many aspects of Dominicans and their communities through articles, interviews, oral histories, photographs, and videos. In addition, the team provides commentary on the political landscape and popular culture as it relates to the Dominican transnational community.

Transnational Dominican Activism is curated by Professor Nelson Santana, a former assistant librarian and archivist at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (2007-2014). He is now Deputy Chief, Assistant Professor and collection development librarian at Bronx Community College of The City University of New York (CUNY) where he leads the library’s efforts in all aspects of acquisitions and collection development.

Learn more by exploring the accompanying digital exhibition.

We invite you to check out this exhibition and recommend it to students, researchers, professors, and the public concerned about government corruption, police brutality, violence toward women, anti-abortion legislation, and many other social causes as it manifests in resistance over time.

The exhibition is currently on display through 2023* at Bronx Community College Library.

For more information, connect with Professor Santana at [email protected] or on Twitter at @elprofe_santana

Jhensen Ortiz, Librarian

Interior: Harvests of the Dominican Republic at CUNY DSI

Images from the book Interior: Harvest of the Dominican Republic will be on view from May 9th, to September 6.

Interior: Cosechas de la República Dominicana / Interior: Harvests of the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: VICINI, 2013.

The amazing photographic exhibition is based on yet another successful collaboration that produced this publication that vividly depicts the agriculture of the Dominican Republic. The book contains photographs based on some of the main crops and their harvest cycle.  In addition, Executive President Felipe A. Vicini perfectly describes the contents of this publication, “It reveals, as suggested by its title, the bounty of the soil, together with the intervention of man in the process and highlights the production areas located throughout the country” (Interior, English introduction pg. [iv]) The photographs were taken by Miriam Calzada, Eladio Fernández and Pedro Genaro who captured beautifully the harvest and plantations in the Dominican Republic as well as the laborious work in planting, cultivating, and gathering of crops. The contributions of Carlos Despradel and the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) made this publication possible.

This photo exhibition depicts a diverse range of traditional export crops and root and tubers include la yucca/ yuca, el guadul/ pigeon pea, la habichuela/ kidney bean, el Tabaco/ tobacco, La Lechosa/ Papaya. Furthermore, this book aims to articulate the history of agriculture in the Dominican Republic and origins of the crops in general. For many this will be a reference to the expansion of the Dominican Republic’s agriculture from its foundation in the sugar industry to the diversity you see in the industry today with so many different crops with economic importance in the country. The book is now available to the general public for perusal at the CUNY DSI library in New York City.

Interior: Harvests of the Dominican Republic exhibit is also on view at Center for Worker Education (CWE) 25 Broadway, New York City.

Jhensen Ortiz

IDENTITY and MAGIC at CUNY DSI

Prof. Sarah Aponte would like to thank VICINI for donating this magnificent publication. Images from the book Identity and Magic: Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic will be on view from May 17 to August 17. The opening reception will feature the well-known Dominican folklorist Dagoberto Tejeda Ortiz and will be held on Friday May, 17^th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Admission to the reception is free and open to the public: please register at http://identity-and-magic.eventbrite.com

Identidad y magia: bailes folklóricos de la República Dominicana / Identity and Magic: Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Vicini, 2012.

This beautiful coffee table book recounts the history and evolution of folkloric dances in the Dominican Republic. The book was written by Dagoberto Tejeda Ortiz, a well-known researcher who has dedicated many pages to investigating the subject.  (Many of his books are available at DSI for perusal). It narrates the story of the Dominican Republic’s folk dances through multimedia: writing, photography, illustration and a documentary video. This combination provides a great, interdisciplinary overview of dances and themes examined in each chapter.

Identity and Magic Folk Dances of the Dominican Republic is an important resource for researchers, students, dancers, musicologists, ethnographers, musicians and the general public interested in Dominican folkloric traditions, dances, and history.  It is a comprehensive text that seeks to spread, share and promote the essence of folk dances and culture in the Dominican Republic.

Jhensen Ortiz, Library Intern