The Trap

The Trap interrogates the personal experiences of blue land crab [jueyes] fisherfolk in Puerto Rico, and the economic and cultural importance of the practice as a form of livelihood for Black and Afro- descendant communities. Incorporating within his installation interview recordings, poems, songs, artworks, and other materials resulting from his research, Larregui invites the participant to appreciate jueyero culture as a practice of ancestral knowledge on foraging and environmental interdependence. The work’s title refers to the ingeniously designed device used to catch the blue land crabs. The work considers how this way of life is in danger due to climate change, rising sea levels, and coastal development that encroaches on communities struggling to remain in place. Put at risk by these factors, Larregui’s work is both a warning and an act of preservation of an Afro-Puerto Rican tradition.