Pedro Adorno Irizarry drawing in Harvard Museum of Natural History’s Sea Monsters exhibition.
Harvard Museum of Natural History will come alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Puerto Rico this weekend with ¡Celebremos Puerto Rico! an education-forward, family-friendly cultural celebration honoring the island.
Puerto Rican artist and director Pedro Adorno Irizarry will lead the day’s festivities alongside his arts collective Agua, Sol y Sereno. Attendees will learn from Harvard scientists about the natural wonders of Puerto Rico, like the bioluminescent bays, colorful birds and coquí frog that can be found in this tropical landscape. Using augmented reality tools, attendees can even explore ancient Taíno artifacts and sites, without leaving Cambridge.
Throughout the day Irizarry and his team will lead a group art-making project culminating in a live performance. Agua, Sol y Sereno is a Puerto Rican theater collective founded by Irizarry and Cathy Vigo. Known for incorporating writing, music, dance and painting into their performances, Agua, Sol y Sereno also hosts creative workshops, parades and performances rooted in ecological and historical awareness.
“It’s important to us as a museum that the audience inside the museum and our visitors reflect our local neighborhoods and communities,” said bilingual museum educator Javier Marín. “We make an effort to make sure that whatever we are offering here at the museum aligns with their interests.”
In preparation for Hispanic Heritage Month programming, the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture (HMSC) looked at regional data to see what populations live in the Greater Boston area. The past two years the museums hosted celebrations centered on the El Salvadorian community. This is the first year it will focus on Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican food trucks from around the state will be on site for attendees to purchase food during the event. Marín says some of the trucks are coming from as far as Worcester and New Bedford specifically for this celebration.
The program is presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and HMSC in collaboration with ArtsThursdays, Office for the Arts at Harvard, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Ágora Cultural Architects and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción.
¡Celebremos Puerto Rico! takes place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 1 to 4 p.m. The program is free and open to all, although advanced registration is encouraged.
Attendees can also use free parking at the 52 Oxford St. garage.
“I hope others take away from the event that HMSC is here for everyone,” said Marín. “We’re eager to welcome all of our neighbors from in and out of town.”