map of boriken | puerto rico
2025
plaza colon
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
old san juan
boriken | puerto rico
2025
castillo san felipe del morro
boriken | puerto rico
2025
The three flags represent from left to right:
burgundy cross - spanish military flag
commonwealth of puerto rico
united states of america
castillo san felipe del morro
boriken | puerto rico
2025
castillo san felipe del morro
boriken | puerto rico
2025
castillo san felipe del morro
boriken | puerto rico
2025
casa afro
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Casa Afro is a space dedicated to honoring Black history and celebrating Afro-Puerto Rican | Afro-Boricua identity. Rooted in ancestral practices, art, and community knowledge, it fosters Afrocentric education and critical thought that affirm the richness of Afro-descendant traditions while challenging Eurocentric narratives. It also embraces a sacred relationship with nature, recognizing the mangroves, lagoons, and forests of Loiza as part of a living heritage that connects Puerto Rico to the Caribbean and the wider African diaspora.
casa afro
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
casa afro
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
university of puerto rico at río piedras
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
university of puerto rico at río piedras
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
two peoples, one struggle: public education
el yunque national rainforest
boriken | puerto rico
2025
el yunque national rainforest
boriken | puerto rico
2025
breadfruit
el yunque national rainforest
boriken | puerto rico
2025
batey de los hermanos ayala
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
batey de los hermanos ayala
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Vejigante masks from Puerto Rico are vibrant, hand-carved creations traditionally made from papier-mâché or coconut husks, featuring exaggerated horns, fangs, and vivid colors. They are worn during festivals such as Ponce Carnival, where the vejigante character blends Spanish, African, and Taíno influences to embody both mischief and cultural resilience. These masks serve as powerful symbols of Puerto Rican identity and folklore.
batey de los hermanos ayala
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
taller n’zambi
loiza - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Bomba is one of Puerto Rico’s oldest musical and dance traditions, rooted in the island’s African heritage. Emerging from the enslaved communities on the island’s coasts, it served as both a form of resistance and a way to preserve cultural identity. Today, bomba dancing is celebrated as a vibrant expression of Afro-Puerto Rican history, resilience, and communal spirit, where dancers and drummers engage in a powerful call-and-response exchange.
museum of history, anthropology, and art
university of puerto rico at río piedras
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
un sueno libre | a free dream, 1987
Juan Sánchez (born July 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Puerto Rican American artist and educator whose work has significantly contributed to the Nuyorican cultural movement. He is renowned for his mixed-media artworks that explore themes of identity, colonialism, and the Puerto Rican experience both on the island and in the United States.
santurce
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
The Santurce Art Walk grew out of a grassroots movement to revitalize San Juan’s Santurce neighborhood, transforming abandoned streets into a vibrant open-air gallery. Sparked by the Santurce es Ley festival, it now features large-scale murals from local and international artists that celebrate Puerto Rican identity, social issues, and community resilience. Today, wandering through Calle Cerra and beyond offers visitors a living, ever-changing canvas that blends culture, history, and art.
santurce
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
santurce
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
la goyco
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Once an abandoned school, La Goyco has been transformed into a vibrant community cultural center, offering arts programs, workshops, and health services while serving as a dynamic hub for local residents.
la goyco
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
la goyco
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Plena is a vibrant Puerto Rican music and dance style, often called “the sung newspaper” for its storytelling lyrics. At its heart are the panderetas, handheld drums that create lively rhythms inviting everyone to move, sing, and celebrate.
la goyco
san juan - boriken | puerto rico
2025
panderetas
el departamento de la comida
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
El Departamento de la Comida (El Depa) is a nonprofit collective in Caguas, Puerto Rico, dedicated to food sovereignty and community resilience through agroecology and collaborative projects. Founded in 2010, it has grown from a community-supported agriculture initiative into a hub that includes a shared commercial kitchen, an agricultural resource library, and programs that support local farmers, especially those from historically marginalized communities. Its mission is to build a just, decolonized, and regenerative food system in Puerto Rico.
el departamento de la comida
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
seeds
el departamento de la comida
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
el departamento de la comida
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
el departamento de la comida
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
Fresh local produce (plantains, breadfruit, avocados) for community members.
reclaimed school
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
jardín botánico y cultural william miranda marín
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
The Jardín Botánico y Cultural William Miranda Marín is a 60-acre botanical garden that serves as a living tribute to the island's rich cultural heritage. Through its "Arboleda Ancestral Taína," the garden educates visitors about Taíno traditions by showcasing native plants integral to their way of life, such as yuca and batata, and by reconstructing indigenous bateyes—ceremonial plazas used for social gatherings and ritual ball games—to illustrate traditional Taíno practices.
jardín botánico y cultural william miranda marín
caguas - boriken | puerto rico
2025
reconstructed batey
yauco
boriken | puerto rico
2025
Yaucromatic, launched in 2017 in Yauco, Puerto Rico by Arte Para Unir and community activist Jonathan “Pito” Hernández, transforms the town’s streets into a vibrant open-air gallery of murals. Guided by the principle “Art is not only for museums, it is for the people,” the project engages local residents and artists to celebrate culture, foster community pride, and revitalize neighborhoods, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Over multiple editions, it has produced dozens of murals reflecting themes of heritage, social change, and hope, while attracting tourism and economic growth.
yauco
boriken | puerto rico
2025
yauco
boriken | puerto rico
2025
yauco
boriken | puerto rico
2025
yauco
boriken | puerto rico
2025
long trip puerto rico
2025
Our visit to Puerto Rico was an opportunity to step into the layered histories and lived realities of the island. The trip invited us to encounter the complexity of a place that both belongs to, but is not fully part of, the United States. We explored social and political issues such as the migration of Puerto Ricans seeking opportunities elsewhere, colonial legacies, questions of national identity, and the tensions of displacement and belonging.
The stories we witnessed were written into the land, architecture, and cultural spaces—from colonial forts and plazas to modernist buildings and gentrified neighborhoods. We traced Taíno ancestry, Afro-Boricua traditions, and the trans-influence of culture between the island and stateside communities, prompting reflection on its impact on children and their families.
Public art, as both an economic driver and form of resistance, along with music and community-led projects, highlighted the resilience and creativity of local communities. At times, I saw glimpses of New York City in Puerto Rico, reflecting the deep cultural connections between the island and its diaspora.
I left Puerto Rico with a deeper understanding of the complexity of its land, people, and culture, and how these forces continue to shape lives beyond the island.