Rutgers-Newark Arts Festival celebrates Latino/a Roots

NEWARK -- Rutgers University has joined hands with the City of Newark's Division of Recreation/Cultural Affairs during Hispanic Heritage Month to host a Latino/a Arts Festival, Before and Beyond: Celebrating the Indigenous and African Herencias of Latino/a Culture.  This two-day festival on October 1 and 8, 2008, will commemorate and celebrate the African and indigenous roots of Latino/a culture, and is the first event of its kind on the Rutgers-Newark campus. Admission to the Festival is free and open to the public.

This festival opens Wednesday, Oct. 1 beginning at 2:30 p.m. with a screening of Henry Chalfant's documentary, From Mambo to Hip Hop, which explores the African and Latino origins of this music in the Bronx. The screening also features a question-and-answer period with co- producer Elena Rivera, and takes place in room 313 Bradley Hall, 110 Warren Street, Newark.

One week later on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., internationally acclaimed performers and community members will educate and entertain attendees at the festival’s main event, which takes place on the Norman Samuels Plaza, located in front of the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, on the Rutgers-Newark campus.

Hosted by Nuyorican poet and performer extraordinaire, Caridad de la Luz, aka La Bruja, the afternoon will feature the award-winning puppeteer Laurencio Ruiz of Mexico, performing "Quenonamican," a Pre-Hispanic puppet show that represents what it means to be Mexican in North America. The puppet show will be followed by Puerto Rican/Cuban salsa, and Peruvian Afro-indigenous dances, called marinera and festejo negro.  La Bruja and a regional step team from a Latino fraternity, LSU, will wrap up the afternoon of performances.

The festival also features a Community Resources Fair.  Health-related student organizations at Rutgers-Newark and organizations in the surrounding community will provide information on health issues that affect the Latino/a community,

"Before and Beyond" looks toward a future in which Latino/as will play a decisive role in the future of the United States. The festival draws on culture to promote future leadership and to open a dialogue about Latino identity within the US American context.  “This festival represents a long overdue first for Rutgers Newark,” according to Laura Lomas, professor of English and American Studies, and the event organizer. “Latino/a culture is a dynamic force in the Americas and in the world, and this festival celebrates the roots of this culture that preceded the arrival of the Spanish to this hemisphere."

Other Rutgers-Newark sponsors for this event include: the departments of English, History, Modern and Classical Languages Departments, Program in Women's Studies, The Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, the Paul Robeson Campus Center, the Office of Student Life and Leadership, Cultural Programming Fund, the Office of Student and Community Affairs, Office of the Chancellor, and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. Additional cosponsors are Councilmember Aníbal Ramos, Jr., Citibank, and the Newark Public Library.

For more information about the festival, please contact Karla Ramos and Luz Costa, Latino/a Arts Festival Press Coordinators at: latinofestcoordinators@yahoo.com