jorge ‘cano cangrejo’ dÍaz ortiz
Jorge co-founded AgitArte in 1997 and is Co-Director; he is also editor of the book When We Fight, We Win! He is a puppeteer, dj, popular educator, and bicultural organizer with over 20 years of experience. Jorge is deeply committed to working class struggles against oppressive systems, namely colonialism, patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism. He is a founding member of Papel Machete, a collective of radical artists and street theater/puppetry workers dedicated to education, agitation, and solidarity work in 21st-century Puerto Rico and its diaspora. Tough decisions are made collectively, Jorge’s razor-sharp political analysis and understanding guide much of AgitArte’s work. He also provides political and ideological mentorship to the team. Jorge received his BA in Mass Communication from Emerson College in Boston, MA. He strives to be a rigorous, organic intellectual and is currently based in his hometown of Santurce, PR.
IG: @canocangrejo
Sugeily RodrÍguez LebrÓn
Sugeily (Su) is Co-Director of AgitArte, a member of Papel Machete, and a performance artist, puppeteer, and visual artist. Su is a force and key cultural organizer on the ground in Puerto Rico as coordinator of Casa Taller Cangrejera, AgitArte’s cultural organizing space. She is a committee member of Titeretada, an annual event that celebrates puppetry. With Deborah Hunt she ran Teatro Estudio Yerbabruja until 2011. She was Program Coordinator for the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico and Festival Interamericano de las Artes in the Corporation of Musical Arts for over a decade. After Hurricane María hit, Su played a significant role in organizing and distributing aid and food and coordinated with Papel Machete and other artists’ art workshops and performances with the Centros de Apoyo Mutuo (CAMs). She received her BA in History from the University of Puerto Rico. Su is from Gurabo and is currently based in Santurce, PR.
IG: @sugeilyrodriguez.lebron
Deborah Hunt
Deborah Hunt is the founder of Maskhunt Motions, a nomadic laboratory for experimental theatre work specializing in animated forms. She is a mask maker, mask performer, puppeteer, and performance artist. From 1972 she has worked as a cultural practitioner, creating, and presenting original theatre works and performances, working with communities in collaborations, festivals and encounters in the Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She was born in New Zealand and has resided in Puerto Rico since 1990. “My practice is focused on and explores puppetry and mask work in public /private spaces. I am interested in performing in unconventional places and to audiences that do not necessarily go to theatres. I describe my work as theatre of the useless.” Publications: Masks and Masked Faces and `Puppets, Puppetry and Gogmagog.
IG: @maskhunt
YouTube: DeborahHunt/MaskhuntMotions
José ‘Primo’ Hernández Diaz
José is AgitArte’s Visual Art Director and leads Datos y Dibujos, a critical project that facilitates rapid cultural response with powerful imagery and political analysis. He has illustrated several award-winning YA novels including Ediciones SM Barco de Vapor’s Antrópolis and ICP’s Consultores de Misterios. In addition to creating much of AgitArte’s visual artwork in the last decade, José created the branding and design with Dey Hernández for the When We Fight, We Win! book and podcast and for the annual Titeretada Festival in Puerto Rico with Javier Maldonado-O’Farrill. José is also a puppeteer and has performed in several of Papel Machete’s original pieces. Most recently, his illustration work was highlighted in AgitArte’s social media campaign, #DefiendeLaEducaciónPública, to support the struggle for public education and the campaign, which marks the 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane María. Jose received his BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is based in Santurce, PR.
IG: @primo_agitarte
Dey Hernández Vázquez
Bicultural worker, interdisciplinary artista, puppeteer, permaculturist, educator, and designer. Dey is Project Director at AgitArte, a member of Papel Machete and curator, co-producer, and Director of the book and podcast, When We Fight, We Win! Their work centers on collaborative projects and practices like the End the Debt! Decolonize! Liberate Puerto Rico! Scroll project and the cantastoria, If All Lives Matter Cause We Are All Created Equal, Why Are Some Lives More Equal Than Others? with Brooklyn-based quilter Sylvia Hernández. Ella is a Board Member of AgitArte and has designed and directed art workshops and projects with the organization since 2008. In a myriad of formats, Dey creates counter-hegemonic narratives throughout their work while finding joy in the ordinary. Ella received a master of architecture degree from the University of Puerto Rico and is a movement artist with Danza Orgánica, a social justice dance theater company in Boston, MA. Dey lives and works in constant back and forth between Boston and Puerto Rico.
IG: @arkitectita
Francisco Iglesias
Francisco Iglesias (b. 1979, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is an educator, mask maker, puppeteer and actor. He is one of the founding members of the theater company, Y no habia luz (2005). For the past sixteen years, he has worked with the company in the educational, administrative, and artistic areas. From 2004 to 2022 he worked at Saint Francis School where he served as drama teacher and Activities Coordinator. He also coached the Public Speaking and Forensics teams. He received his B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico in Theater Education. He has taken workshops with Caroline Dream, Alex Navarro, Malayerba Theater Group (Ecuador), The Bread and Puppet Theater (Vermont), Galo Balcazar, Tere Marichal and Deborah Hunt. He has represented his country with artistic work presented internationally in Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, and the United States.
Tina Orlandini
Tina is a photographer, cultural worker, and AgitArte’s Development Director. The intersections of culture, community, and solidarity are central to her work and how she moves through the world. From 2012 to 2016, she worked at El Puente, a community-based youth, arts, and social justice organization in Los Sures (Southside of Williamsburg), Brooklyn. Tina first engaged with AgitArte and Papel Machete through a collaborative exhibition in NYC of artwork and creative strategies produced during the University of Puerto Rico student movement of 2010-2011. Tina received her BA in art history and writing from Ithaca College and her MA in Art and Public Policy from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Tina is a student of the Tamburello (Italian tambourine) and practices traditional songs that come from and honor the lands of the mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). She is from Altadena, CA, and currently lives in New Orleans, LA.
IG: @t.orlandini
AnÍbal “El S.” Vidal Quintero
Aníbal S. Vidal Quintero, was born in San Juan, P.R. on January 14, 1986 and grew up in Luquillo where his studio, El Guiñapo, is located. Since he was a teenager, he has been part of the independent music scene on the island. Aníbal is the keyboardist of the metal band Infectoria, and the drummer of the band, For Eternity. In 2005, together with Brian Ramirez Vicens (EBRS), he recorded his first rap songs and created the group Convulsiones del Texto (C.D.T.). He is the pianist and backing vocalist of the El Macabeo Orchestra. He has also played the role of composer, musical producer, and graphic artist under his rap project, in which he calls himself “eL S.”. Aníbal has eight productions under his project and many collaborations such as El Hijo de Borikén, in which he synergizes his talents with Emil Martínez-Roldán, “El Hijo de Borikén”.
IG: @elsgrams
Marian Annette RodrÍguez Morales
Marian Annette Rodríguez Morales is a multidisciplinary visual artist, puppeteer, set designer, costume designer and PhD student in Literature at CEAPRC. She obtained her B.A. in Sculpture from the University of Puerto Rico and her M.A. in Arts from CEAPRC. She has been part of the Papel Machete collective since 2007. She worked as a humanities professor for 8 years.The Museo de las Américas has several of her art pieces in permanent exhibitions. She has distinguished herself as a set designer and costume designer for the Centro de Bellas Artes de Puerto Rico. In 2022, she performed at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami. One of her puppets, “Doña Yeya,” was part of the Puppets of New York exhibition (August 2021-April 2022) at the Museum of the City of New York. Marian was selected for a Mellon Foundation scholarship as a visual artist in the CEC’s Maniobra program. She is currently the Gallery Director of the Museum of Saints and National Art (MUSAN).
IG: @rojo_mandarina
AgustÍn Muñoz rÍos
Agustín Muñoz Ríos is a Puerto Rican musician, singer-songwriter and guitar player. He studied composition in the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. He was a member of the board of directors of the Taller de Cantautores cooperative, participating in various recitals in their famed Cafe-Theater in Rio Piedras. He is a founding member of Perros de Pavlov and has been a part of the Papel Machete collective since 2011. He has published articles in print and digital media, including Bandera Roja and Indymedia Puerto Rico, on the political situation and musical scene of his country.
IG: @agustin.munoz.rios
YaranÍ Del Valle Piñero
Yaraní Del Valle Piñero is an actor, singer, voiceover artist and educator. Selected NYC Theatre credits include: BORINQUEN VIVE EN EL BARRIO, LAS RUTAS DE JULIA; ALOHA BORICUA, HARLEM HELLFIGHTERS ON A LATIN BEAT and ¡GUARACHA! (PregonesPRTT); OCTOPUS’ S GARDEN, RUBALEE and ZOETROPE (Caborca Theatre). Film & TV credits include MI PEQUENO MUSICO (PBS PR), CHAMACAS (Web series) MALDEAMORES and LA GRAN DESILUSION. With her music-performance project, PURA’S LAGRIMAS, she aims to comment about her experience as migrant and the devastating effects of colonialism. Yaraní is the Co-founder and Creative Director of CAICU, a cultural platform that implements community-based art projects and supports collaborations between artists in Puerto Rico and its diaspora around the globe.
IG: @layara
JUAN PABLO VIZCAÍNO CORTIJO
Born in Santurce in 1978 and raised in Loíza, Puerto Rico, Juan Pablo Vizcaíno Cortijo has been interested in his town’s arts, music, and traditions since he was a child. He grew up by the river banks of the Río Grande de Loíza and was inspired by its beauty. He also found inspiration in the sea and the rich culture that gave Loíza the name of Puerto Rico’s Capital of Tradition. Juan saw the character of “el vejigante”, one of Loiza’s principal cultural symbols, as a defense of his hometown. He started carving vejigantes in 2006, following the footsteps of the master craftsmen Castor Ayala, Raúl Ayala, Samuel Lind, and Juan Sánchez’. With his Vejigantes masks and art, Juan continues to contribute to his culture in the hope of a better quality of life for all while striving to keep his roots alive. He recently moved back to Puerto Rico after 15 years in the diaspora.
IG: @elancondeloiza
Yamillex MontaÑez Lugo
Yamillex is a Puerto Rican dancer, mother, and choreographer. She is a student and teacher of the body and its movement. Yamillex was part of the modern dance company Hincapié directed by Petra Bravo and has collaborated with other artists in the world of dance, music, theater and the visual arts in and out of Puerto Rico. She works as a yoga instructor and ceramicist, among other things. She directs collaborative video-art projects that combine music and dance to create visual poetry.
IG: @yamiheyy
Joseph Therrien
Joseph Therrien has a BFA in Acting, an MFA in the Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut, and an MS in Childhood Education from PACE. He has taught theater, music, puppetry, and performance full time and as a teaching artist in New York City for the last 12 years. In addition to teaching, Joe works and performs with other theater groups in and around New York City. In 2011, he founded a puppetry collective called “The People’s Puppets of Occupy Wall Street,” which offers training and support for grassroots community organizations on how to incorporate art and performance into their work. He also works and tours extensively with The Bread and Puppet Theater, performing large-scale political puppet shows worldwide. Joe creates puppet shows of his own and often performs in and around New York City with many collaborators.
IG: joe_yes_yes
Lizbeth ‘Liz’ RomÁn
Puerto Rican interdisciplinary queer artist. Storyteller, theatermaker, and Caribbean singer. Birthing music, song, storytelling, and theater since 2006. Currently, they study and deepen themes of grief, sonorous-creative accompaniment, and diverse techniques of energetic, emotional, spiritual, and physical care. As part of their practice, they share tools to amplify voices and navigate grief and transitions. Together with diverse communities, they create a song and story archive- using live storytelling as a decolonizing medium. Their artistic practice revolves around liberation in all its forms. They have performed their musical and theatrical project in local and international venues: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Netherlands, Colombia, United States among others. Their record productions, singles, and visual work are available on all digital platforms. Román is currently creating sound accompaniment/sound therapy and is working on their next production.
Osvaldo Budet
Osvaldo Budet is a Puerto Rican artist and graduate of Maryland Institute of College of Art, where he completed his Masters in Fine Arts in painting. His work explores the physical and political dimensions of colonization and post-colonization as a reflection of the culture and the interests of the systems we inhabit. Since 2008 he has been living and working in Berlin, Germany, San Juan, Puerto Rico, NYC, USA, and Australia. He has received numerous awards and residencies, including a fellowship at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg for Advanced Study, Germany, the Leipzig International Art Program, and the Museo del Barrio de Santurce residency. His films have been exhibited internationally and at festivals in San Juan, Tel Aviv, New York, and Berlin. He is a co-producer of When We Fight, We Win!: The Podcast and a contributing artist/videographer to the End the Debt! Decolonize! Liberate Puerto Rico! Scroll.
IG: @osvaldobudet
Peter Kamal Mukuria (“Pitt Panther”)
Peter Mukuria, better known by his artist name “Pitt Panther,” is currently incarcerated at Jessup Correction Institute in Maryland. While imprisoned, he vocalizes the blatant racism in his correctional facility: he has been threatened, not given the haircut service offered to white prisoners, and denied proper facilities such as access to water. He has also been placed in solitary confinement as retaliation for his self-advocacy. Mukuria was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and is currently the Minister of Labor for the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party (RIBPP). He is also on the steering committee with the Industrial Workers of the World Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWW IWOC). Mukuria writes on various topics, from abolition to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mukuria is also a brilliant artist whose work will be featured in The Healing Project’s exhibition. He draws and collages with paper, pencils, and materials he can find, given his incarceration.
IG: @pittpanther_art
JUAN PABLO VIZCAÍNO CORTIJO
Yamillex MontaÑez Lugo
