We met with interdisciplinary artist, educator, former fashion designer and recent residency alumnus Yali Romagoza to learn more about her work and her time attending SVA’s virtual residency program: The Artist Residency Project. Romagoza came to the U.S. from Cuba in 2011, and her work discusses migration issues and the effects of political trauma on the individual through performance, video installations, photography and costume design.

What was your focus while attending your residency at SVA?

I focused on a documentary that reflects on the experience from my project No me pongan en lo Oscuro (Do not bury me in Darkness), an ongoing series of “unannounced performative actions” in art institutions such as museums and art fairs, responsible for the invisibility and erasure of the Latina artists in the diaspora within the art system. My time in the residency at SVA was a critical moment to think about how the project can grow and make an impact using other methods of communication besides performance—in this case, thinking of building a hybrid documentary that crosses genres and mediums. At the same time, I am exploring different forms of documentation that contribute to creating an archive. Latin diasporic bodies have been systemically erased from art history. Archiving is essential for future generations to know what has been done to make a change in an art world that follows a colonial model promoting separation, segregation and discrimination.

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Performance and Impact