THE ARCHIVE - SALSA MAP

No document or study has identified and archived the historic Salsa venues in New York City. For this reason, it was essential to create a visual representation of these cultural centers that fed the New York City's music scene in the 1970s.

The project interviewed dancers, academics, journalists, photographers, videographers, DJs, bouncers, fans, political activists, and some musicians who were directly connected to the Salsa scene.

Although "Where We Were Safe" located more than 100 places, the first stage of this map concentrates on eight locations: Casa Amadeo Record Store and Orchard Beach in The Bronx, Club Corso and Chez Jose in Manhattan, Bethesda Fountain and rumbas in Central Park, The New Rican Village in The Lower East Side, The Village Gate in Greenwich Village, and Hotel St. George in Brooklyn.

VISIT THE MAP/ARCHIVE

(Use a computer for a flawless experience)

COMMUNITY SCREENINGS 

As a digital project, generating community gathering spaces is vital to make this story more accessible, active, and horizontal. 

For the last year, the interactive documentary has toured film festivals worldwide as public screenings. Here, the activities included a deep exploration of the salsa map as we listen to the oral testimonies and watch the visual material together. This format has resulted powerful as the community, who transited in the 1970s salsa club scene and their future generations, can see a visual representation of their history for the first time. 

The screenings have been presented in Spain, Germany, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Argentina, and others. In October 2022, the Society for Visual Anthropology, part of the American Anthropological Association, hosted a public screening at the Annual Anthropological Convention in Seattle and awarded "Where We Were Safe" as Best Multimedia Project of the Year. 

EXHIBITIONS INSTALLATIONS 

"Memoria, Salsa and Resistencia" is an interactive exposition based on the digital archive. Its objective is to activate the oral stories and memories compiled during the investigation of this project. The exhibition shows the material culture behind the lost spaces of salsa, including pictures, concert posters, flyers, records, and never seen video footage by videographer Orlando Godoy.

The exhibition has been mounted and showcased in Quito, Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and New York City.

Watch the installations

Parque Urbano Cumanda, Aug. 2022 - Quito, Ecuador
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Nov. 2022 - New York City, USA
Annual Anthopological Convention, Nov. 2022 - Seattle, USA
Ansonia Records, Aug. 2023, Los Angeles - California, USA
Mt. Pleasant Public Library, Sept. 2023, Washington DC, USA

“PLACE IS POWER” WORKSHOP

For the last 80 years, Afro-american and Latinx barrios in New York City have suffered the drastic effects of racist urban policies and neoliberal agendas now mirrored in hypergentrification. Consequently, their historical sites, cultural hubs, and family businesses in the five boroughs have experienced a silent erasure.

“Place is Power” is a series of workshops to empower the Latinx community to understand why cultural spaces are essential and their need to be protected and preserved.

The workshop, developed in collaboration with Archivistas en Espanglish, explores the intersection between archives, oral history, and social cartography. During the sessions, participants learn about a methodology to develop place-based oral history and social mapping projects. They share the methodology and know-how used to create “Where We Were Safe,” so others can develop a similar mapping project and practice in their contexts, barrios, and communities.