Roxana Perez-Mendez
La Declaración
March 1-April 1, 2007
Powel House Museum
Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Robert Wuilfe
From the exhibition brochure/curatorial statement:
History is vitally important, but it is not written in stone. With Independence Hall just a few blocks away, you find yourself in what has been called the most historic square mile in the United States. We must remember, though, that the stories we tell of the past (and even the present) are a series of choices and exclusions, perceptions and prejudices, intentions both good and bad. Truth and Certainty in the context of history are slippery goals, and at times seem unattainable. Historic sites such as the Powel House can only present a limited glimpse into the past.
Despite all the architectural restoration, carriage-rides and the tourist-friendly stories of the Founding Fathers, a visit to Old City Philadelphia is, for better or worse, a very selective and sanitized version of the city’s past. Only in 2007 have plans been finalized to commemorate the slaves owned by George Washington while he was President. A planned memorial to those slaves, near the Liberty Bell, will break ground this summer. We also collectively forget sometimes that colonial history extended far beyond the thirteen colonies. At the same time that Philadelphia was a colonial city, much of the rest of North and South America were also being transformed by Europeans. Samuel Powel and his peers in the 18th century may have had a fuller understanding of goings-on in Latin America than the average citizen of the United States today, despite the internet and 24-hour news. By neatly packaging history for tourists and turning current events into sound-bites, what might we be missing?
Though history is so changeable, and subject to gaps and debate, we should not stop trying to get it right. The very difficulty of the process makes it essential that we keep at it, makes it critical that we keep questioning what we think we “know” about history. Roxana Pérez-Méndez is an artist who understands this.
In her artistic practice, Pérez-Méndez re-imagines history through the lens of the Puerto Rican experience. Through a multi-media project and interventions that use the Powel House as a backdrop, she invites the viewer to experience an alternative history. Throughout the museum, Pérez-Méndez inserts both true and fictional references to the obscured colonial history of Puerto Rico and Boricua (the original pre-Colombian Taíno name for the island). La Declaración is a project that delicately unearths the old wounds of possession, historical memory, lust, colonialism, and plants the fantasy of an alternate American legacy.
In the same way that official history is subject to revision, Pérez-Méndez works on the boundaries of fact and fiction, certainty and ambiguity. La Declaración is not an attempt to defi nitively “correct” history. At times subtle and quiet, at others angry and passionate, La Declaración is a series of challenges and questions with multiple interpretations. She provokes a sense of unease about what we believe regarding the construction of history and the lives of women. Has Pérez-Méndez re-imagined the Powel House as a center of Puerto Rican power, as evidenced by the flag outside the building? Or is the flag a symbol of insurgency and revolution? When we watch her video performances, are we seeing a gentlewoman in the privacy of her own home, or a servant/slave releasing pent-up frustration while the Master is away? She projects her image into the dollhouse, and blurs the line between subject and object, privileged woman and play-thing of the upper classes.
Though her work presents fictions mixed with facts, and is subject to multiple interpretations, Pérez-Méndez is not out to obscure history. On the contrary, she helps to elucidate the fact that it is already obscured. Her work is an admonition to think for oneself. This is not about denying the importance of history, but believing that it is too important to accept without question.
Click on images below to advance slideshow.
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