<I>Amalia Berrio</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2005
name: label: Created by
content: Ana Mercedes Hoyos, Colombian, 1942 - 2014
label: Subject of
content: Amalia Berrio, Colombian
notes: 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 photograph portrait of Amalia Berrio against a blue background. The bust portrait captures Berrio from the shoulders up, her head turned slightly to her proper right as she gazes past the camera. She is wearing a bright yellow top with a matching headwrap. Berrio wears a black bead necklace and a dangling, heart-shaped earring is visible on her proper left ear. The earring is divided into three equal vertical parts with the colors of the Colombia flag: yellow, blue, and red. On the verso, upper left corner of the photograph is the sitter’s name handwritten in pencil [Amalia Berrio].
place: label: Place captured
content: San Basilio de Palenque, Bolívar, Colombia, Latin America, South America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Photography
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
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: 2015.166.12
objectType: label: Type
content: chromogenic color prints
label: Type
content: portraits
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: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 59 1/16 × 39 3/8 in. (150 × 100 cm)