<I>Porcelana del Caribe</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, 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 bowl of fruit under a beach umbrella, representative of one carried by palenqueras, Afro-Colombian women who sell fruit in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The shallow, grey metal bowl holds several different tropical fruits. The largest piece is half a watermelon with the cut section protruding upwards, showing the red center speckled with small black oval seeds. The rind of the watermelon is striped with jagged light green and dark green lines. To the right of the watermelon is the spikey green top of a pineapple. Behind the pineapple is a bunch of yellow bananas. To the left of the watermelon is a slice of papaya, with an orange inside and dark green rind. The fruit bowl rests on a flat, bright blue table with an umbrella rod behind the fruit bowl. The umbrella top is patterned yellow and red. In the background is a sandy beach and blue ocean with the waves breaking. The work is signed by the artist on the bottom right [hoyos] and the edition written in the bottom left [67/75].
place: label: Place depicted
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: Foodways
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: 2015.166.9
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): 29 15/16 × 22 1/16 in. (76 × 56 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (matted): 33 5/8 × 25 3/4 in. (85.4 × 65.4 cm)