El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Koki Kiki

ADÁL, El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Koki Kiki, 1994, issued 2005, lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet, closed: 5 x 3 ¹⁄₂ in. (12.7 x 8.9 cm) open: 7 x 5 in. (17.8 x 12.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2013.19.3, © 2012, ADÁL

Artwork Details

Title: El Puerto Rican Passport, El Spirit Republic de Puerto Rico: Koki Kiki
Artist: ADÁL
Date: 1994, issued 2005
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: closed: 5 x 3 ¹⁄₂ in. (12.7 x 8.9 cm) open: 7 x 5 in. (17.8 x 12.7 cm)
Copyright: © 2012, ADÁL
Credit Line: Gift of the artist
Mediums Description: lithography with photograph in staple-bound booklet
Classifications: Graphic Arts
Book
Object Number: 2013.19.3
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.19.3

Artwork Description

Across decades of multimedia work, ADÁL foregrounded music as exemplary of a "Nuyorican" culture that keeps Puerto Rican roots alive in New York, while reinventing them to powerfully contribute to the fabled melting pot of America.

In El Puerto Rican Passport, ADÁL and collaborators emphasize imagination as key to overcoming the colonizing forces that have blocked self-determination for the island. The central manifesto points to forms of creativity that transcend borders, especially music and dance, as evidence of the independence and resilience of an already existent "sovereign state of mind."

Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies 2023