Creative Time Summit 2024 | Las Nietas de Nonó

Summary

In this reflective piece, the speaker explores their Afro-Caribbean heritage through the lens of community and food, emphasizing the importance of place and collective memory. They discuss how experiences with healers, farmers, and oral histories have shaped their identity, revealing both joy and loss. The project 'Futopia' serves as a love letter to their community in San Anon, Puerto Rico, focusing on the healing power of food and shared rituals. By acknowledging the relentless extraction and displacement of their lands, they highlight the need to nurture connections to place and community, using food as a profound language that maps their stories.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The speaker experiences memory as a continually evolving archive that reveals hidden histories and emotions.
• 🌱 Growing up in a community-oriented environment, the speaker reflects on the practices of healers, elders, and farmers.
• 🏡 A deep connection to place is nurtured through medicine, oral histories, spirituality, collective care, and food.
• 💔 The speaker grapples with the pain of loss and disorientation when encountering a once-familiar place.
• 💌 'Futopia' serves as a love letter to the San Anon community in Puerto Rico, highlighting its sense of place and struggles.
• 🔄 The speaker questions how to nurture and pass down a sense of place amidst extraction and displacement of lands.
• 🍽️ Food in the community is emphasized as a tool for understanding the evolving Afro-Caribbean geography.
• 👥 Neighbors share valuable knowledge through techniques like fishing and cooking, emphasizing the importance of these practices.
• 📚 The act of teaching and sharing rituals around food contains deep knowledge that requires care and attention.
• 🍲 Food is described as a primary connection to a place, symbolizing life and community, which resonates with the project of 'futopia.'

Q & A

What is the main theme of the speaker's experience with memory?

The speaker experiences memory as an unfolding archive that reveals untold histories, unspoken emotions, and materialities, emphasizing a profound connection to place.

How did the speaker's upbringing influence their perception of community?

Growing up in a community that valued the practices of healers, elders, and farmers led the speaker to reflect on the deep connections to place, including traditions of medicine, oral histories, and collective care.

What does 'futopia' represent in the context of the speaker's community?

Futopia is described as a love letter to the community in San Anon, Puerto Rico, embodying both the struggles and resources of the community while nurturing a sense of place.

What kinds of pain and disorientation does the speaker mention?

The speaker discusses a sense of loss and disorientation stemming from not recognizing once-familiar places, which is tied to the broader issues of extraction and displacement.

How does the speaker propose to deepen understanding of Afro-Caribbean geography?

The speaker suggests focusing on the food in their barrio as a means to understand the evolving Afro-Caribbean geography, emphasizing the knowledge and techniques passed down through community members.

What role does food play in the speaker's narrative?

Food acts as a symbolic anchor to place, representing life, love, and community, and serves as a means of connecting to heritage and sustaining relationships with places and ancestors.

How does the speaker connect the concept of food to identity?

The speaker highlights that food is not only sustenance but also a representation of identity and connection to community, reflecting Edwidge Danticat's notion that food embodies love and belonging.

What types of knowledge does the speaker emphasize in their community's practices?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of practical knowledge such as fishing techniques, cooking rituals, and the skills required to interact with local food sources, which are integral to sustaining cultural heritage.

What is the significance of cartography in the speaker's reflection?

Cartography is significant as it allows for the continuous reflection on the experiences and rituals that sustain relationships with places and communities, illustrating the dynamic nature of these connections.

What is the underlying message the speaker wants to convey about the preservation of culture?

The underlying message is that nurturing and passing down cultural practices, particularly those related to food and community, is essential for preserving identity amidst external challenges like displacement.