Fragmented Meanings

Virtual Conference | April 7 2026

An Ideology of Fragmented Meaning examines the history of the Teodoro Vidal Collection, donated to the Museum of American History, and of Marvette Pérez, the first Puerto Rican curator at the Smithsonian and the person responsible for exhibiting it. Building on the film presented in the video below, we discuss the work of Puerto Rican curators and researchers at the Smithsonian, past and present, how Puerto Rico has been collected by foreign institutions, and ideologies of preservation in the archipelago.

Rosa Ficek

Anthropologist at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey. Her research focuses on topics related to technology and environmental change.

Soraya Serra

Specialist in preventive conservation and collections management, the humanities and public history, textile history, museology, and archaeology. Her research explores the history of fibers and textiles in the Caribbean and the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage from a local and decolonial perspective.

Taína Caragol

Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Since joining the museum in 2013, she has built one of the leading collections of portraits representing Latinx and Puerto Rican artists and historical figures, contributing significantly to the creation of a more polyphonic history.

Resources shared during the panel:

Maekawa S, Toledo F (2003), "Sustainable climate control for historic buildings in subtropical climates". Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3 pp. 369–382, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/14777830310698321
- PDF published by Getty Conservation Institute:
  https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/sustained_climate_control_hot_humid.html
“La conservación de bienes culturales, con especial referencia a las condiciones tropicales.” Colección Museos y Monumentos, Vol. 11, 1969, UNESCO with the International Centre of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Rome. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000135545
Agrawal, O.P. “Appropriate Indian Technology for the Conservation of Museum Collections”. Appropriate Technologies in the Conservation of Cultural Property, 1985. UNESCO Press.
“El Santero”. Directed by Amílcar Tirado. Cine DIVEDCO, 1956; Institute of Puerto Rican, 2014. [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ABP9C0Gf8.