They can’t hold back spring: Art as an essential service in crisis situations

“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity,
no need for silence, no room for fear.
We speak, we write, we do language.
That is how civilizations heal.”
Toni Morrison


The power of the arts to keep us inspired and strong, and to hold us together has been asserted by artists time and time again.

A myriad of versions of the phrase “no podrán detener la primera”, attributed to the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, has become a ubiquitous cry of resistance, appearing everywhere humans have needed to fight for a cause or proclaim the determination to overcome and go on. From American music icon Tom Waits’ “The can’t hold back spring”; to Cuban singer and composer Amaury Pérez’s “No lo van a impedir”, also known as “Creceremos”; to the powerful testimony left to us by the great Toni Morrison; to the Fania Records hymn in the voice of Héctor Lavoe “La vida es bonita y es bonita”; to the beautiful series of images and namesake book published by English painter David Hockney as an answer to humanity’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, the arts always come to our rescue.

At a time when the pandemic forced us to confine and physically isolate ourselves, culture brought us together, allowed us to create bonds and shortened the distances that separated us. Culture has offered us a safety net and solidarity network during this period of anxiety and uncertainty.

The arts helped us to be more resilient and reminded us that we are not alone. Music, dance, podcasts, films, paintings, drawings, theater, literature, journalism, and graphic design, among other expressions of art and culture, made us discover ways to lift our spirits and find hope, to keep alive the civic dialogue during really trying times and offering us new perspectives on current circumstances.

In the context of a long economic crisis, worsened by the impact of natural disasters and of the pandemic, we have fought despair, precarity and invitations to divisiveness with the help of the arts. Works that have proven right Toni Morrison’s sentence, keep lifting us: We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. ”

Artists not only fought to keep their work alive, they even created new initiatives to keep us connected. When the pandemic threatened the continuity of the yearly circus and theater arts festival Circo Fest, their producer ACirc, came up with a virtual version that paved the way for a new initiative ACirc TV. Their space in old San Juan, El Bastión, has been developed not only as a cultural and arts education space, but also a resilience center for the community that houses water supply tanks and a vegetable garden, among other services.

The choral ensemble Orfeón San Juan Bautista, directed by artists and music educators Guarionex Morales Matos and Daniel Alejandro Tapia Santiago, kept sharing their videos of Puerto Rican classic songs, cheering everyone up with the beauty of their performances and the ingenious way sought and found to get together a numerous group of artists to sing for us to perfection from each of their homes.

Likewise, cultural center Taller Comunidad La Goyco through La Calle Loíza, Inc., developed in a rescued public school, has become a community heaven where health and crisis assistance services coexisted with arts and culture projects like a small indie bookstore ran by writer and Letras Boricuas fellow Luis Negrón; a reading room or “sala de lectura” populated with an excellent book collection; an exhibit celebrating the plena musical tradition and called “La Casa de la Plena”, as well as a regular itinerary of performances, book presentations, film showings, jazz nights, and children’s activities.

Throughout the island, organizations like Casa Paoli in Ponce, despite damages caused by the direct impact of earthquakes in the southern region of Puerto Rico, kept the work on, producing a documentary-concert and a children’s book to commemorate the centenary and legacy of Antonio Paoli, internationally known in his time as “The King of Tenors, the Tenor of Kings”.

During these very testing times, some organizations have also acted as critical conveners and enablers of intellectual and artistic work, civic dialogue and cultural development both through their cultural programs and their grantmaking. Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (MAC) and Beta Local have played a key role by keeping cultural programs and making significant grants available to artists, humanities practitioners and cultural organizations.