Third San Juan Poly/Graphic Triennial “El Panal/The Hive” Announced

The Poly/Graphic Triennial is a cultural event officially sponsored by the Government of Puerto Rico, directed by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and coordinated by its Visual Arts Program, which fosters experimental practices in the field of contemporary art with an emphasis on print-making and its multiple manifestations.
“The Triennial places San Juan on the cultural map of the Hemisphere; it attracts visitors to Puerto Rico, generates economic activity, and provides our young people with a window that enables them to see how art emerges in a world of new mediums of expression,” the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, Kenneth McClintock Hernández, stated.
On this occasion the exhibition will be held in three emblematic buildings belonging to the ICP: the National Gallery, the Casa Blanca Museum, and the Old Arsenal of the Spanish Navy. The National Gallery and the Casa Blanca Museum will host exhibitions with a historical background, while the best of the recent work by established and emerging artists will be shown at the Arsenal.
“The Poly/Graphic Triennial is an event with an international projection that contributes to position Puerto Rico as a destination offering alternatives for cultural experiences with high levels of sophistication in the fields of design and the visual arts. Also, this event to be held over the course of four consecutive months has a favorable impact on the overall economy of the island,” the ICP director, Mercedes Gómez Marrero explained.
In charge of the concept for the present edition is Deborah Cullen, from New York, the chief curator of the event, who will count upon the inventiveness of the curatorial team composed of Antonio Sergio Bessa, from Brazil, Ursula Dávila-Villa, from Mexico, and Rebeca Noriega, from Puerto Rico. The third edition of the Poly/Graphic Triennial will explore the notion of the essentially collaborative quality of graphic practice, focusing on social networks, real or virtual, in which key people and practices converge.
Marilú Purcell, director of the ICP’s Visual Arts Program, mentioned that prestigious institutions from the United States, such as the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York and the Bronx Museum of Art, New York, and the Blanton Museum, Texas, will collaborate with the exhibition by loaning works by important artists, as is also the case of the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Works by Jackson Pollock, Wifredo Lam, Andy Warhol and Vito Acconci, among other artists, will be exhibited. Simultaneously, the best recent work by established and emerging artists from all over the world will be featured at the Arsenal.
“Our activities also include an educational program aimed at offering a wide range of attractive and dynamic options for adults, children, young people and families. This will afford a significant encounter with exhibitions through an educational integration with the artists and with technology, in such a way that this event may become a laboratory for the exploration, appreciation, and knowledge of art and its new trends,” Gómez Marrero affirmed.

Inaugural Activities
The opening weekend began on Friday, April 27 at 6 pm, with the exhibitions held at the National Gallery and the Casa Blanca Museum, and the Charles Juhasz Alvarado project and the Colección Maravilla at the Casa de los Contrafuertes.
On the following day at 7 pm, the Old Arsenal of the Spanish Navy were the setting for the official inauguration of the Poly/Graphic Triennial and for the opening of the projects commissioned especially for this occasion.
And the inaugural weekend had a perfect finale on Sunday, April 29 from 1 to 7 pm with the presentation of El Caldo de la Perla, a community project by Coco de Oro and Edgardo Larregui at the roofed sports court of our emblematic community of La Perla.
The Triennial’s activities will run until August 25, when the event will come to a close.