This Saturday, November 11, 2023, at 1:00pm, multidisciplinary artist Javier E. Piñero will present his exhibition “Survived by Few” at the General Archive of Puerto Rico [Archivo General de Puerto Rico (AGPR)]. This collection of 15 large format photographs (46”x 59”) is part of a project commissioned by Smithsonian magazine for its cover in June 2023 (shown above). The AGPR is located in Puerta de Tierra, at 500 Avenida de la Constitución, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Javier Martínez (Autogiro) shares:

The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) announced that the opening of the photography exhibition Survived by Few by Puerto Rican photographer Javier Piñero will take place on Saturday, November 11, at 11:00 am at the General Archive of Puerto Rico (AGPR). At the exhibition, Piñero will present his most recent photo essay, published as the cover of the June 2023 issue of Smithsonian Magazine as “How Artisans in Puerto Rico Sustain Native Culture, A photographer returns to his native island to document a handful of artists devoted to preserving its rich creative traditions.”

The photographs in this exhibition explore the efforts of Puerto Rican artists and artisans to preserve the techniques, music, and shapes of Taíno pottery pieces, local furniture by homegrown craftsmen made with cattail fiber, and percussion instruments [los barriles y pleneros]. It is an exhibition that shows years of experience in the field of photography—an effort joined by the artisanal and artistic works of Alice Chéveres, Familia Villalobos, and Rafael Trinidad. The exhibition seeks to bring awareness so that people get to know and recognize the value of Puerto Rican cultural production.

Artist, documentary photographer, and writer Javier Enrique Piñero obtained a master’s degree in Public Relations from New York University. In 2016 he worked with the United States Marine Corps documenting NATO exercises throughout the American, Asian, and European continents.

His work experience includes BBC, Princeton University, the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, and Smithsonian Magazine, among others.

Excerpts translated by Ivette Romero. For full article (in Spanish), see https://autogiro.cronicaurbana.com/es/survived-by-few-de-javier-pinero-archivo-general-de-puerto-rico/

Also see https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/artisans-puerto-rico-sustain-native-culture-180982110/ and https://eladoquintimes.com/2023/10/18/el-artista-multidisciplinario-javier-e-pinero-presenta-survived-by-few-en-el-archivo-general/