Ten days or so after Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico last September, Casa Pueblo—a solar-powered, self-sufficient environmental center in the mountainous municipality of Ajuntas—got in touch with the San Juan theater company Y No Había Luz. With the electrical grid destroyed, the entire island was in survival mode, focused on clearing debris and securing food and clean water. Casa Pueblo, one of the few sites anywhere with electricity, had become a hub of activity. Everything is crazy here, they told the group. We need cultural activities for the kids, for everyone. Can you come?
“Most of the pieces have deeper meaning now,” says Torres Lopez, gesturing to one featuring the figure of a contortionist that’s meant as an indictment of consumer culture. “After the hurricane we consumed everything—there was nothing in the stores, and it was, like, what do we do now?”
This third trip is a joint project of the museum and Segundo Ruiz Belvis. After Maria the center launched a fund to support Puerto Rican artists both on the island and by providing opportunities for artists to tour. In partnership with the Old Town School and the Chicago Community Trust, the center has brought a suite of Puerto Rican visual and performing artists to Chicago over the past six months, of which Y No Había Luz is the latest.
