"MUJER,” a groundbreaking photography exhibit by Nicole Sánchez honoring the lives and achievements of Dominican women from all walks of life. “MUJER,” which means woman in Spanish, stems from a highly acclaimed, similar experiment launched a year ago in the Dominican Republic. The show profiles the lives, struggles and views of 125 Dominican women through poster-size photographs, biographical profiles, audio interviews and videos. It is the largest exhibit of its kind to showcase Dominican women.
The photos bring new visibility to Dominican women who in one way or another, sometimes silently and away from the limelight, have been trailblazers in their country. Over the past four decades, Dominican society has undergone enormous transformation, including the arrival of many women in influential places and posts traditionally occupied by Dominican men.
The exhibit is presented by MercaSID, a food service company headquartered in the Dominican Republic, the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (CUNY DSI) and City College Libraries. The original exhibit, which profiled 100 women from the Dominican Republic, has been augmented with profiles of 25 women living in New York City’s Dominican communities.
Project photographer Nicole Sánchez and producer/writer Giovanna Bonnelly visited New York City’s Dominican community in 2007 to select 25 women from New York’s Dominican population of more than 600,000. Sarah Aponte, CUNY DSI librarian, coordinated the local arrangements in collaboration with Anthony Achille, CCNY Assistant Director of Urban and Governmental Affairs and CCNY Chief Librarian Pamela Gillespie.
“In order to understand who Dominicans are, and what they are capable of, you definitely need to widen the scope and include both those in the island and the enormous population that now lives abroad, the largest one residing here in the United States” says Dr. Ramona Hernández, Director of the CUNY DSI.
*Los esperamos for the opening reception, which will take place on August 19th at 6:30p.m.
RSVP to mujernyc@gmail.com