<I>Comercio Triangular</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2005
name: label: Created by
content: Ana Mercedes Hoyos, Colombian, 1942 - 2014
notes: label: Caption
content: A painter, printmaker, and sculptor, as well as a photographer and one of Colombia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Hoyos focused much of her work on the Afro-Colombian community of San Basilio de Palenque. Located on the country’s Caribbean coast, across from Panama, Palenque was the first free African town in the Americas and is home to locals known as “Palenqueros,” descendants of enslaved persons who fled the area near Cartagena after a 16th century slave revolt.
label: Caption
content: Described as “an entirely Afri-Latin community,” the inhabitants have preserved a distinctive matriarchal culture and a local language derived from a mix of Kikongo (a language associated with Angola and the Congo), Spanish and Portuguese. Hoyos’ work in all media (paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs) captures the vibrant Palenque community, bringing their customs to life and offering vivid glimpses of a world, a people, and a way of life that provides a rich demonstration of the African diasporic experience in the Americas.
label: Caption
content: A painter, printmaker, and sculptor, as well as a photographer and one of Colombia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Ana Mercedes Hoyos focused much of her work on the Afro-Colombian community of San Basilio de Palenque. Located on the country’s Caribbean coast, across from Panama, Palenque was the first free African town in the Americas and is home to locals known as “Palenqueros,” descendants of enslaved persons who fled the area near Cartagena after a 16th century slave revolt.
label: Caption
content: Described as “an entirely Afro-Latin community,” the inhabitants have preserved a distinctive matriarchal culture and a local language derived from a mix of Kikongo (a language associated with Angola and the Congo), Spanish and Portuguese. Hoyos’ work in all media (paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs) captures the vibrant Palenque community, bringing their customs to life and offering vivid glimpses of a world, a people, and a way of life that provides a rich demonstration of the African diasporic experience in the Americas.
label: Description
content: A color lithograph depicting a map of Colombia in relation to the Transatlantic slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The continents appear as blocks of pink amidst the light blue oceans. Europe is a darker fuchsia than the other continents. Africa and Americas have swathes of red and orange in areas of the coast where enslaved persons were transported to and from. Colombia appears in bright yellow, the only country on the map clearly outlined and labeled. Also labeled is [CARTAGENA / SAN BASILIO DE PALENQUE]. In the ocean between South America and Africa is a black and white cross-section diagram of the interior of a slave ship, with human figures packed tightly into the different levels of the ship. Under the diagram is dark purple Spanish text that reads [COMERCIO TRIANGULAR]. Surrounding the ship are black lines with arrows making directional connections between continents, each labeled in Spanish with differed trade goods: TABACO (tobacco) / AZUCAR (sugar) / ORO Y PLATA (gold and silver) / BARATIJAS (trinkets) / ESCLAVOS (slaves). The arrows depict “esclavos” moving to and through Colombia and “oro y plata” moving out of South America and into Europe. At the bottom center margin of the lithograph are large, bold, dark purple Spanish text that read [COMERCIO TRIANGULAR]. The work is signed by the artist [hoyos] on the bottom right and the edition [67/75] is written in the bottom left.
place: label: Place depicted
content: San Basilio de Palenque, Bolívar, Colombia, Latin America, South America
label: Place depicted
content: Europe
label: Place depicted
content: Africa
label: Place depicted
content: North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Colonialism
label: Topic
content: Commerce
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Trans Atlantic slave trade
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: San Basilio de Palenque Primer Pueblo Libre de América
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the artist Ana Mercedes Hoyos
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.166.2
objectType: label: Type
content: lithographs
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Ana Mercedes Hoyos
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (unmatted): 22 1/16 × 29 15/16 in. (56 × 76 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (matted): 25 3/4 × 33 5/8 in. (65.4 × 85.4 cm)