Old Colony: Challenging Colonialism

0:00An exhibit called the Museum of the Old Colony just opened at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut, home to the biggest share of. Puerto Rican Stateside. Artists Pablo Delano, a Puerto Rico native, put it together to spotlight how Borriquas have been shown in history from racist old images to today's. Struggles. He blew up pages from a 1998 book that celebrated U.S. takeovers of places like Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. It. Sold over 400,000 copies. The show pulls no punches with stuff like captions, calling island women illiterate or exotic, plus modern hits like mass sterilizations in the bio. 20th Century. Nationalists draping a huge flag on the Statue of Liberty in the 70s, and her came Maria's wreckage in 2017. One wall hits hard on folks waiting, men lining up for World War II Army duty, women at factories during Operation Bootstrap starting in 19. 47.

1:00And Maria Survivors at Gas Pumps. Delano named it after old colony soda, that grape drink with a revolutionary war soldier on the can, loaded with 56 grams of sugar way more, then Fanta. It's a jab at colonialism through food, like corn, beef, and export crackers the U.S. military brought. He says it's no cozy decor. It's built to challenge you, spark decolonizing thoughts. And yeah, it's tough to swallow. For Connecticut, Delano added local flavor, like a box from New Britain's Bohr Inquin Bakery nodding to the Tieno Sun God, and Hartford's Victor Gerina. The never-caught suspect in the 1983 Wells Fargo Heist that nabged $7 million for Puerto Rican Independence fighters. The exhibit started in Trinidad back in early 2016, and keeps updating with big events, like Trump tossing paper towels, post Maria, or ousting. Governor Rosello. It's up through July 5th, right after Independence Day, then heads to a major museum in São Paulo, Brazil.

2:02Delano's real dream? Bringing this home to Puerto Rico, maybe donating it to the Contemporary Art Museum there to keep the conversation alive on the island. I'm Corey with The Story, that's your Hartford News Today update, AI-powered, and always on.