New York, NY – September 18, 2025 – The Clemente Soto Vélez Center and LxNY, a consortium of over 50 Latinx-serving cultural organizations throughout New York City, are excited to announce the second phase of Historias, the multiyear presentation of cultural programming charting Latinx contributions to New York City that launched in the Fall of 2024. The initial phase, Historias Sembradas (Sown Histories), introduced the Historias programming with over 44 public programs, including performances, exhibitions, and discussions, involving 224 participating artists. Phase two, titled Historias Entrecruzadas (Intertwined Histories), will build upon the activities of phase one with a special focus on the documentation and preservation of Latinx scholarship and history.
The cornerstone of Historias Entrecruzadas is The Nueva York Chronicles, a new interactive digital platform and community resource dedicated to documenting the history of Latinx cultural contributions to New York City, launching in November. The Clemente invited community historians, artists, and cultural workers to contribute to a living archive that will continue to grow throughout the Historias initiative. The website will present an interactive map with pinpoint locations of cultural sites and a timeline of scholarship, archival materials, oral histories, and documentation of Historias programming. A timely response to the systemic erasure of Latinx histories, The Nueva York Chronicles will provide an evolving public archive for journalists, scholars, and curious users to research historical documentation of migration, activism, and art.
Programming highlights include the CRUCES: Youth Summit at MoMA, which will feature presentations, performances, and workshops that elevate and amplify the next generation of Latinx storytellers, as well as the youth programs that support and empower them. Another highlight is a partnership with Kinfolk, an augmented reality app that archives Black and Brown history, to present an augmented-reality digital monument from Bernardo Vega’s memoirs of tobacco-rollers by Molly Crabapple at La Marqueta in East Harlem. Simultaneously, The Clemente will partner with El Museo del Barrio to conceptualize and co-commission this year’s Día de Muertos altar installation, and with Flushing Town Hall’s MexFest 2025 to support Rituales de Resiliencia, a monthlong exhibition and opening night of music, performance, and participatory rituals celebrating Mexican ancestries.
This season will also feature the International Indigenous Hip-Hop Festival, a four-day event presented in partnership with eleven organizations, including South Bronx Unite and Urban Democracy Lab, that links the origins of hip-hop to the displacement and cultural erasures faced by Latinx diasporas and Indigenous communities, as well as the return of the Remesas and Sobremesa series of intimate roundtable discussions conducted over a meal, which will continue in October with an edition hosted by artists Sofía Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo.
Throughout the fall, The Clemente will host the microresidency of the collectives Capicú and NuevaYorkinos, who will develop La Incubadora, a multidisciplinary project that uses domino and tile game culture to celebrate the combined Caribbean and Chinese heritage of Lower Manhattan. Their findings will result in the fourth episode of the Domino Table Talks, inviting artists, poets, filmmakers, and cultural figures to discuss topics over a game of dominoes.
All events are open to the public, and many are free of charge. RSVP will be available through The Clemente’s newsletter and on the Historias landing page.
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October 9, 10, 11, 12: International Indigenous Hip-Hop Festival (IIHHF)
Hostos Community College
500 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451
Rematriation Trail: October 9, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
The Clemente will partner with eleven community organizations to co-present the International Indigenous Hip-Hop Festival (IIHHF), a four-day gathering rooted in the origins of hip-hop culture, which emerged in the wake of displacement caused by the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. Linking this history to the experiences of Latinx diasporas and Indigenous communities, the festival examines contemporary struggles against the erasure of Indigenous languages and the ongoing impact of environmental disaster.
As part of its contributions, Historias will support the festival’s citywide programming while also co-developing the Rematriation Trail collaboration with the Shape of Cities to Come Institute (SCCI), South Bronx Unite (SBU), and the Mott Haven Community Land Stewards. The Trail connects historic and reclaimed sites through guided tours, workshops on environmental justice and land stewardship, and pan-Indigenous ceremonial practices. Wheatpasted along the trail will be diptiques by photo pioneers Joe Conzo and Jamel Shabazz, complemented by work by four international indigenous artists; Victor Zea (Quechua), Colectivo Sak Bej (Maya), Andres Bo (Colectivo Emberra), and Wendy Chuquin (Kichwa). A public walking tour through the South Bronx will be held on October 9 from 12:00pm – 1:30pm, led by Land Stewards, SBU leadership, and Bronx historians. Beyond the festival, the Trail will endure as a collaborative project, building on signature components of Historias, including the Nueva York Chronicles platform, to ensure its legacy continues. To learn more, visit the IIHHF’s website.
October 18: Remesas y Sobremesa – An Archive Immune to Dispossession
Flamboyan Theater
The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street, New York, NY, 10002
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Artists Sofía Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo will host the next edition of Remesas y Sobremesa, a series of intimate discussions held over shared meals. This edition will focus on material culture and memory in Puerto Rican artifacts and diasporic objects.
The event will be preceded by “From Which We Descend,” a hands-on archival and oral history workshop exploring memory, family, and legacy, led by cultural preservationist Djali Brown-Cepeda, founder of the NuevaYorkinos digital archive. The workshop will be held on the fourth floor in Studio 406 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
October 22: Historias in Motion: Cigar Workers University Monument Launch
La Marqueta
1590 Park Ave, New York, NY 10029
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
In collaboration with Kinfolk Tech, The Clemente will present Cigar Workers’ University, an augmented-reality public artwork by artist Molly Crabapple, developed with archival research and contributions by scholar Monxo López. The launch will include an accompanying zine and self-guided walking tour.
The work memorializes Puerto Rican and Cuban cigar rollers and the enduring history of La Marqueta, a community marketplace active since the early 20th century. Crabapple and López’s research and work draw from the writer and workers’ rights advocate Bernardo Vega’s acclaimed memoirs. Crabapple’s AR monument honors Vega and the cigarworkers he described – reading poetry, news, and political tracts aloud to one another as they rolled cigars- capturing a moment when labor, learning, and collective life converged.
This fall marks the launch of Historias in Motion, a new Historias signature series of virtual monuments and neighborhood site clusters that bring Latinx histories into the public sphere through digital and place-based storytelling. The inaugural edition focuses on East Harlem/El Barrio, viewed through the lens of writer and labor organizer Bernardo Vega and his chronicles of 1930s New York.
Cigar Workers’ University will remain accessible at La Marqueta via the Kinfolk App. This project is the first in a planned series of five monuments and walking tours to be launched across New York City through Summer 2026.
November 1: Super Sabado: Día de los Muertos Celebration
El Museo del Barrio
1230 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
This October, The Clemente and El Museo del Barrio will co-commission the creation of this year’s Día de los Muertos altar at El Museo, continuing a cherished tradition that has become a cornerstone of the museum’s annual programming. The altar will pay homage to central figures who shaped and chronicled El Barrio’s character–from activist writers Bernardo Vega and Clemente Soto Vélez, to artists Rafael Tufiño, Tony Bechara, the Young Lords, and Alice Neel, to legendary musician Eddie Palmieri.
Through this collaboration, The Clemente and El Museo honor El Barrio’s interwoven cultural legacies while inviting the community to engage in collective remembrance. Presented under the Migration and Spirituality thematic track of Historias, the altar will be accompanied by activations that underscore how ritual, art, and memory sustain diasporic communities.
The installation will be on view from October 9 through November 21, serving as the centerpiece of El Museo del Barrio’s Día de los Muertos celebration on Saturday, November 1. Admission to the event is free, and all are warmly invited to register here.
November 1: MexFest 2025: Día de los Muertos | Rituales de Resiliencia
Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
The Clemente is a partner of Flushing Town Hall’s MexFest 2025, a monthlong exhibition to celebrate Mexican ancestories on the occasion of Día de los Muertos. The exhibition will begin with an opening night of music by New York-based Mexican music bands Linda EPO & Mariachi Hidalgo, performances, and participatory rituals.
The night will open with a collaborative artistic process surrounding an altar, created by artists Aurelia Fernández, Arantxa Araujo, and Xtian Ávila. Fernández will invite attendees to create cut-paper ofrendas (offerings), Araujo will allow guests to write a memory, story, or poem about a loved one who is no longer with them on a white wall, and Ávila will create a film of attendees wearing calavera (skull) masks and sharing their stories of how their culture celebrates Día de los Muertos.
This event is open to the public. Tickets may be purchased on Flushing Town Hall’s website.
November 22: CRUCES: Youth Summit
Museum of Modern Art
11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019
9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Co-presented with LxNY and hosted by MoMA’s Public Engagement Department, CRUCES: Youth Summit will feature a collection of youth programs, including a lead performance by ensemble music group Upbeat NYC, on-stage presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities, presented by students, Latinx educators, cultural leaders, and alumni of LxNY member youth programs across New York City. CRUCES: Youth Summit aims to support the next generation of culture workers and scholars to amplify Latinx histories in the city. The full list of LxNY youth program participants will be announced in October.
December 9: Remesas y Sobremesa: ¡Qué rico sancocho! with Arnaldo Cruz-Malave and Lizania Cruz
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave, Queens, NY 11101
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
The fall season concludes with the fourth edition of Remesas y Sobremesa with ¡Qué rico sancocho! The Resistant Corporeal Joy of Latinx Everyday Poetics in Nueva York. Scholar and educator Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé and Dominican participatory artist Lizania Cruz will be joined by Dr. Cristina Pérez Jiménez for an evening of shared food, poetry, and poster-making.
Unfolding in the spirit of a sobremesa, a post-meal time for conversation, the program will explore the vital role Latine poets have played in building cultural institutions and organizing in their communities. Through dialogue and collective action, participants will engage in an evening of shared meals, words, and histories.
Presented as part of the Clemente’s Historias initiative on the occasion of an exhibition by LA ESCUELA___ at MoMA PS1, this event features conversations, poetry, and poster making. RSVP to secure your spot.
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About The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center
Founded in 1993, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center is a Puerto Rican/Latinx multi-arts institution with an inclusive and international vision rooted in NYC’s Lower East Side/Loisaida. The Clemente engages diverse audiences in heritage preservation, neighborhood history, and cutting-edge multicultural experimentation, emphasizing the humanities’ role in bridging civic and cultural life.
As a downtown cultural mainstay for three decades, we focus on cultivating, presenting, and preserving Puerto Rican and Latinx culture while embracing a multi-ethnic and international perspective. Committed to operating in a polyphonic manner, The Clemente provides affordable spaces to artists, small arts organizations, and independent community producers, reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the Lower East Side and New York City. Guided by our namesake’s values of culturally grounded multigenerational leadership, local empowerment, and mutuality, we are a collaborative hub for creating and co-producing multidisciplinary contemporary work.
The Clemente is a proud co-founder/partner of LxNY Consortium and the Coalition of Small Arts NYC (CoSA NYC).
About LxNY
LxNY | Latinx Arts Consortium of New York is a collaborative peer network dedicated to knowledge exchange, resource-sharing, and collective action towards systemic change. Formed in 2020 by organizations serving Latinx communities and artists across New York City, LxNY aims to transform the historical underfunding of Latinx arts by advocating for the equity-driven missions of our cultural institutions, nurturing our deep relationships with community, and stewarding our hard-fought legacies into the future. Advancing cultural work as essential work, LxNY honors the expertise of our multigenerational arts leaders and culture bearers, harnessing their collective experience to better serve the city’s diverse cultural landscape.
About Historias
Historias is a transformative citywide effort led by The Clemente that re-centers Latinx cultural narratives in New York City through exhibitions, performances, oral histories, and digital storytelling. Launched with key support from the Rauschenberg Foundation and in partnership with the Latinx Arts Consortium of New York (LxNY), Historias unfolds across three phases: Sembradas, Entrecruzadas, and Reveladas, each building on research, collaboration, and community engagement.
At its core, Historias leverages cultural work as a form of resistance to erasure. It brings together curators, researchers, artists, and communities to activate physical and digital spaces through interdisciplinary practice. By leveraging Latinx contributions to the city’s culture, space, and economy, Historias offers a more inclusive historical lens and catalyzes a reimagined cultural future; one rooted in equity, visibility, and collaborative innovation.
Historias is organized by The Clemente’s Curatorial and Programs team: Libertad O. Guerra, Executive Director and Chief Curator; Sofía Reeser del Rio, Associate Director of Programs and Curator; and Sally Szwed, Strategic Growth and Special Projects Director.
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For images, further background, or interviews, please contact:
Katrina Stewart
Account Manager, Visual Arts
Blue Medium
T: +1-212-675-1800
katrina@bluemedium.com
Fernando Salazar
Communications Manager
LxNY
info@lxnyarts.org
