MFA Latinx Heritage Night
When:
Thursday, Sep 26, 2024 5:00p -
10:00p
Thursday, Sep 26, 2024 5:00p -
10:00p
Where:
Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Admission:
$5
Hosted by:
Categories:
Art, Festivals & Fairs, Kid Friendly, Music
Event website:
https://www.mfa.org/event/special-event/latinx-heritage-night
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, join us for an evening celebrating Latinx heritage and culture, presented in partnership with Amplify Latinx and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. Catch live music, dance performances, and talks in the galleries; see works of art by Latinx artists; and network with friends and family!
Events and Activities
Drop-In Art Making: Mini Painted Tote Bags
5–9 pm (last entry at 8:45 pm)
Druker Family Pavillion, Linde Family Wing
Auxiliadora da Silva’s Chuva Sobre São Paulo (Rain over São Paulo) (1971) is a whimsical painting depicting a rainy day in the city. Get inspired by this work of art on view in gallery 335 in the Art of the Americas Wing, then use fabric paint to create your own narrative scene on a miniature tote bag.
Resource Fair
5–9 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Meet representatives from the Museum and our community partners and learn about the resources and programs they offer. Partners include Amplify Latinx, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Hyde Square Task Force, and The Teachers' Lounge.
DJ Montro
5–6 and 8:15–9:30 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Take the celebration to the next level with DJ Montro, who hails from the Dominican Republic and always keeps the dance floor full with his unique blend of Latinx music across genres. He’s second to none when it comes to providing a Latin party wherever it’s needed.
Three in 30
5:30 (English-language tour) and 7 pm (Spanish-language tour)
Meet in Sharf Visitor Center
Take 30-minute tour exploring three objects in the MFA collection that highlight and connect to Latinx heritage. The 5:30 tour ends in LG33 in front of the object featured in the 6 pm Spotlight Talk.
The Folk Music of Puerto Rico
5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 pm
Gallery 168
Enjoy music from Fabiola Méndez, a Puerto Rican cuatro player, singer, educator, and Emmy-nominated composer. Fusing genres such as folk, Afro-Caribbean, and jazz, Méndez’s artistic vision and original music focus on the exploration of culture, ancestry, and identity, inviting listeners to embrace how the power of music and storytelling can unify us.
Voter Registration
6-8:30pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Register to vote with Spark Boston!
Spotlight Talk: Llamas and Inca Art
6 and (English-language tour) and 6:45 pm (Spanish-language tour)
LG33
Delve into the cultural, symbolic, and artistic significance of llamas within the Inca Empire by looking closely at a llama effigy vessel in the MFA’s galleries.
Ricano
6:15–7 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Experience an original Afro-Caribbean performance combining Puerto Rican and Dominican rhythms with a potent contemporary sound. Saxophonist, composer, and culturist Jonathan Suazo offers a captivating Afro-Caribbean experience that presents themes of exploration, integration, and self-acceptance. Ricano combines the words “Puertorriqueño” and “Dominicano,” highlighting Suazo’s two heritages in a unique fusion that creates a new sound within the world of Latin jazz.
The City Talks: The Storytellers
7–8 pm
Riley Seminar Room
Join Boston-based artists as they share how their Latinx identity is used as a source of inspiration, world building, and story telling in their practice and work. Panelists include Silvia Lopez Chavez, artist; Anthony Febo, poet and one half of Adobo-Fish-Sauce; and Paloma Valenzuela, founder of Palomita Productions. Moderated by Marcela Di Blasi, assistant professor, Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies, Dartmouth College.
BOMBAntillana
7:15–7:45 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Sing and dance as part of a live bomba experience with BOMBAntillana. A musical project led by multi-talented artist and bomba practitioner Eli Pabon, BOMBAntillana brings together professional percussionists, singers, and dancers with participants of all kinds to build community. Bomba is an Afro-Indigenous music and dance genre created more than 400 years ago in Boríken (the island today known as Puerto Rico). Having originated on sugar cane plantations and kept alive through oral history and secret gatherings, bomba, like many Afro-Indigenous art forms, was and continues to be a powerful means of creative expression, healing, resistance, community building, and celebration.
SambaViva
7:55–8:15 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Experience the color, movement, and energy of SambaViva’s bold choreographies and contagious rhythms. SambaViva is a Brazilian dance ensemble dedicated to authentically promoting Brazilian culture through dance and music.
Obra en Marcha
8–8:30 pm
Riley Seminar Room
Although the MFA collects and presents art from all over the world, Latinx artists are still underrepresented in our galleries. Join Nadirah Mansour, assistant curator of Islamic Art; and Layla Bermeo, Kristin and Roger Servison Curator of Paintings, Art of the Americas; for a conversation about strengthening our collection of Latinx art, including Muslim Latinx artists.
