Contemporary Seaside Comparsas

Joining the Carnaval de Vejigantes de la Playa de Ponce, the project Contemporary Seaside Comparsas curated by artist and art theorist Humberto Figueroa highlighted the importance and material evolution of the vejigante masks. As part of the commission, artist Franklin Graulau invited local residents to participate in workshops where they built pieces that were integrated into his intervention in the parade. An annual celebration in the barrio La Playa, the Carnival marks the beginning of Lent and is a moment when citizens can, in Figueroa’s words, “claim the street as territory that belongs to them” through the parade. Reinforcing the vejigante figure as one of community resistance and subversion, the collaborators of this commission continue the tradition of the carnival as a space for political expression.

Photo credit: Raquel Pérez-Puig