This art Gallery is a peek into the visual history of culture of the historical Taino tribe, the original inhabitants from the area known as the West Indies. The Tainos the Indegenous peoples that inhabited the countries of central America including Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the Island of Hispanola (which is now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
El pan nuestro, Vázquez, Víctor, 1998, From the collection of: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
This painting is an depiction of an early ages Taino woman. the colors express the essence of bronze color from natural pigment. The Tainos were known by this distinct bronze coloration of the skin. This was a way of telling who tainos were during the early settling days of Christopher Columbus. this woman is depicted with a branch of a plantain tree, which is a very abundant crop in Puerto Rico.
Taino ritual seat, 1292/1399, From the collection of: British Museum
This sculpture is an ancient Taino artifact from the earliest days of Taino culture. It depicts a strong male form on all fours. This sculpture was made using dense tropical hardwood guayacan (Guaiacum officinale). It was believed that Chiefs and warriors of the Taino tribe would sit on these sculptures while inhaling halucanogenic herbs in order to communicate with the varies deities they believed in.
Carved Conch Shell, Taino, 1200 - 1650 AD, From the collection of: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
This piece is carved onto a shell of a conch shell, which is creature of the sea commonly found in the West Indies. This shell is carved with various Indegenous symbols. It was believed that the Taino tribes believes in a variety of deities and used symbology in order to depict.
Shaman effigy pendant, Unknown, 900 - 1600, From the collection of: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This sculpture is a pendant of a depiction of an early taino Shaman. During the time of the Indegenous tainos, Shaman were amongst the most important people of the tribe, along with the chiefs and the Hunters.
Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and French West Indies, Egnazio Danti, around 1570, From the collection of: Palazzo Vecchio Museum
This is a photo of a map from the early 1500. This map details the territories of the indegenous Taino tribe. Although they were believed to be centralized in the island which is now called Puerto Rico, Tainos actually were expanded all across the region. They spread far and wide throughout the region, and have even been said to have a relation to the ancient Mayans and Incas of Mexico.
The Freda Circle, about the construction of the creole women identity - Haiti, Barbara Prézeau-Stephenson, From the collection of: IILA - Italo-Latin American Institute - Biennale Arte 2015
This piece was said to have been published in Venice during the late 1500s. Its a piece that depicts the image of the extinct Tainos. there are also Tales that come with this painting that are in the language of Maracroix (the fusion of French Creole and Ancient taino language.) it was said to represent how settler and colonists from the European nations literally drove this population of indegenous tainos into extinction.
Sol naciente taíno, Tabales, Eric, 1999, From the collection of: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
This is an art exibit from the Art Museum of Puerto Rico. The photo depicting this exibit was taken in 1999. The walls and windows depict various Taino symbols. Symbolism was an intergral part of Taino culture, mostly depicting the deities that they believed in, which was believed to be hundreds of deities.
This portrait was made using a process ofphoto-emulsion process and acrylic paint on canvas. This piece depicts a taino man, which was to represent the disappearance of the Taino culture in the Area. This piece was meant to reflect the feeling that one should make importance in exploring ones history and cultural background.
This sculpture is amother great example of the rich artistic culture the Taino tribe displayed for use in religious practices. This statue was also used as a stool to sit on during rituals, which mainly involved the inhalation of halucanigenic plants set on fire in order to communicate with the many deities they believed in.
West Indian Scene, Agostino Brunias, ca 1795, From the collection of: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
This piece was meant to depict the social and cultural climate of the West Indies during 1795. The cultures depicted here are the indigenous Taino Tribe, the european Conquerors of the time, and the West African slaves brought over by the conquerors when the population of the Tainos became endangered due to disease and war with the Spanish conquistadors. It was the mix of these cultures that most West Indian cultures derive from today.
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
