🌞 The Bronx Hispanic Festival Presents
“Still Present – Aún Presente” — DiasPoRa 2024
Each fall, the Bronx Hispanic Festival (BHF) celebrates Herencia Hispana y Puertorriqueña — Hispanic and Puerto Rican Heritage — with events that honor culture, art, and community.
This year, in collaboration with Boricua College, BHF proudly presents the art exhibition “Still Present – Aún Presente” (DiasPoRa 2024). The exhibition features works by artistas puertorriqueños Diógenes Ballester, Leenda Bonilla, Janita Lanzo, Josué Colón, Rodríguez Calero, and Miguel Trelles, curated by José Velásquez and Luis Stephenberg.
The show will be held at The Gallery of Boricua College’s Bronx campus — una institución orgullosamente sirviendo a la comunidad por 50 años.
The opening reception takes place on October 17, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., and the exhibition will run through December 30, 2024. During the opening night, BHF will also present the Ejemplo Hispano Award to distinguished honorees including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Yolanda L. Rodríguez, Dr. Víctor G. Alicea, and Javier Gómez, among others.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to these exceptional individuals for their significant contributions to the community.
🎨 About the Exhibition
“Still Present – Aún Presente” — DiasPoRa 2024
Modern cities — full of gente en movimiento, strangers, and transients — are the great metropolises of our time. Within these anonymous spaces, the concept of neighborhood remains essential: the human impulse to claim identity and belonging, even amid constant change.
Through the creative process, the artist transforms the subjective spirit into tangible forms filled with meaning. Communities rise, evolve, and are renewed by new generations; yet, even across oceans and borders, their cultural roots endure. The artists in Still Present – Aún Presente embody this living legado — each interpreting ancestral roots through a personal, contemporary lens.
Since the late 19th century, Puerto Ricans have been an integral part of the United States’ cultural fabric, with New York serving as a central home for generations of migrants. Today, more Puerto Ricans live in the diaspora than on the island itself — nearly two-thirds of the population — creating a vibrant and enduring presencia cultural.
The works in DiasPoRa 2024 showcase a wide range of techniques and ideas. While united by shared heritage, each artist offers a distinct perspective — transforming cultural memory into renewed expressions of identity and strength. Through art, their collective spirit remains alive, powerful — y aún presente, and still present.
