Despite the challenging and uncertain time the world is experiencing at the moment, CMCArts remains dedicated to the annual tradition of celebrating the friendship between the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by assembling this online exhibition honoring the Puerto Rican Boricua woman and how artists depict and honor her.

 

Anacaona is defined as the Golden Flower but was also the name of a great Taino Indian war chieftess, sister of Chief Bojekio, and the wife of Chief Caonabo. She was the prettiest Taina woman of all the Caribbean and had 80 regional chiefs under her command in the region of Jaragua.  Borinquen is the native Taino name for Puerto Rico while Boricua is the native Taino name for an individual living in Puerto Rico. 

 

Traditionally, Puerto Rican women are the leaders of the household and community and are an integral part of Puerto Rican society.  This group exhibition of well-known and significant Puerto Rican artists reflects the diversity of Puerto Rican women through original artworks, silk-screens, and lithographs.

 

The collection of 75 masterworks are part of a traveling exhibition that includes artists such as Emeli Vando, Alberto Ortiz Collazo, Lillian Colon, Antonio Maldonado, and Torres Soto. The art collection's permanent home is the Labiosa Center for the Arts. Gallery W. Labiosa was the oldest gallery in Puerto Rico with over 50 years of existence; established by one of Puerto Rico's renowned artists, the late Wilfred Labiosa, father of the exhibition curator, and widely recognized for his old San Juan Scenery, graphic and textile designs, and artwork.   Many of the artists in this exhibition were his formative instructors and his own students alike. Ten of Wilfred Labiosa’s own artworks are presented in their own dedicated gallery called “Homage to Women.”