<h2>A panel discussion in affiliation with <em><a href="http://tallerpr.org/2016/02/15/5187/">Unpacking Hispañola: Scherezade Garcia and Firelei Baez</a></em></h2>
This panel will discuss Taller Puertorriqueño’s curatorial program and its current show Unpacking Hispañola. The exhibition re-envisions the processes that construct historical narratives, racial subjectivity, and gender roles through the work of Dominican American visual artists Scherezade Garcia and Firelei Báez. Both artists create images that complicate the traditional distinctions between myths and historical ‘facts’, questioning the very nature of historical narratives. The panel will address issues surrounding the exhibition of contemporary Latino art in the United States, particularly in community-based organizations in Philadelphia and New York.

El Corazón Cultural del Barrio, The Cultural Heart of Latino Philadelphia, Taller Puertorriqueño (Taller) uses art to promote development within its community and the Latino Diaspora and build bridges to the Greater Philadelphia region. For over four decades, Taller has been elevating and preserving Puerto Rican and Latino culture through arts and cultural programs, including art education, socially conscious art exhibitions and musical events, theater performances, festivals, lectures, book readings, and much more. The 2016 opening of El Corazón Cultural Center, a 25,000 square foot cultural facility, will position Taller as Pennsylvania’s largest Latino arts organization.

Participants:
<ul>
	<li>Rafael Damast, Curator and Visual Arts Program Manager, Taller Puertorriqueño</li>
	<li>Scherezade Garcia, Visual Artist, New York</li>
	<li>Abigail Lapin Dardashti, Ph.D. Candidate, CUNY Graduate Center, and Curator, Unpacking Hispañola</li>
</ul>
<strong>Above image, detail:</strong> Scherezade Garcia, <em>Ulysses Heureux, The Black Emperor, </em>2003

<a href="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/81.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-5193"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5193" src="http://tallerpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/81-300x65.jpg" alt="81" width="300" height="65" /></a>