Liberitarian Essays,
La Germinal

Mónica Rodríguez Medina: Liberitarian Essays, La Germina

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Celebrating the Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico:

Bajo Presión/Under Pressure

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Libertarian Essays, La Germinal is a project by artist Mónica Rodríguez whose point of departure is the work of activist and anarcho-feminist writer Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922). Rodríguez’s intention is to open a dialogue with Capetillo on feminist theory, social justice, and ecology. With La Germinal, Rodríguez proposes to explore Capetillo’s writing as a manual for creating new collective ways of learning, doing, and sharing.

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Capetillo was a prolific writer; in addition, she edited four books and a newspaper and worked as a reader for cigar-factory workers in the Caribbean and United States. Her essays and works for theater address subjects related to the role of women in society, education, social justice, and ecology. Her work offers us a feminist genealogy in which literature functions as an educational tool for the construction of alternative narratives and modes of resistance in opposition to the powers that be.

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On the lot where Capetillo’s house in Arecibo once stood, the only thing that remains is the porch facing the street. The 38 balusters that recreate that porch are also pots holding a selection of wild-growing plants that grow today where the house once stood. The recreated porch serves as a space of interaction with Capetillo’s life and work, implicating us in a shared dialogue in which the knowledge lent us by her past allows us to weave narratives that have been excluded from the island’s official history. The 25 drawings on the wall, in turn, are based on documentary material from the time and function as a timeline of the history of the organization of the working class in Puerto Rico between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

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La Germinal invites us to observe, reflect, and share in community. . . 

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This project is presented thanks to the support and sponsorship of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, in celebration of their Poli/Gráfica de Puerto Rico exhibit titled UNDER PRESSURE.

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