Las Nietas de Nonó’s gathering will take place in collaboration with Parceleras Afrocaribeñas, the community art organization co-founded by the artists in their hometown. As a counter-narrative of the celebration of Discovery Day in Puerto Rico, the assembly will depart from Black geographies and forms of resistance to ongoing U.S. colonialism. By centering Afro-Caribbean culinary traditions that have promoted intimacy within the land and with each other, the gathering will reflect on food sovereignty, local forms of memory and sense of place. The meal will be prepared by Loíza-based chef Aracelis “Celi” Pizarro Rivera and served in a Kiosko built for the gathering, with dishware by Gadiel Rivera Herrera based on Arawakan artistry.

We’re nostalgic about food because food
sustains us… But food is also what anchors us to a
place. We eat, and so food easily becomes
symbolic of life itself, of the people who love us.
You know, food is our primary link, a first link to our
motherland, and so if there’s anything like a
primary connection, it’s through food. 

—Edwige Dandicat