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CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives and Library contributes to HBO Max: House of Bachata pop-up

by Sarah Aponte on 2021-08-11T15:00:19-04:00 in Dominican Studies | 1 Comment

By CUNY DSI Librarian Jhensen Ortiz and CUNY DSI Chief Librarian Sarah Aponte

                From left to right: CUNY DSI Chief Librarian and C

Above, from left to right: CUNY DSI Chief Librarian and City College Associate Professor Sarah Aponte, CUNY DSI Curator Ruth Lizardi, and CUNY DSI Librarian Jhensen Ortiz during the private opening reception on July 29th, 2021.

 

Bachata bookOn July 29, 2021, HBO Max celebrated the opening of “House of Bachata Pop-up,” a first-of-its kind that pays homage to Dominican bachata music, and its many cultural markers to launch the new documentary, Romeo Santos: King of Bachata. The House of Bachata spotlighted the social history of bachata both chronologically and thematically with a focus on Dominican foundational artists José Manuel Calderón, Luis Segura, Melida Rodríguez, Edilio Paredes, among others, who paved the way for today's biggest superstar of the genre, Romeo Santos. In addition, the exhibition displayed from our library collection, Dr. Deborah Pacini Hernández's groundbreaking book: Bachata: a Social History of a Dominican Popular Music (1995), as well as instruments belonging to music educator and producer Benjamin de Menil. The pop-up also exhibited a jacket and a suit worn by popular Dominican bachata players Joe Veras and Antony Santos, respectively.

The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute generously loaned materials for the House of Bachata pop-up from the Deborah Pacini Hernández Dominican Library Collection, and from the following Dominican Archives Collections: Normandía Maldonado, Dominican Times Magazine, and Margarita Madera. These loaned items consisted of vinyl records previously owned by Dr. Pacini Hernández and a special edition of Dominican magazine Revista Mangulina dedicated to Cansiones del Amargue (Songs of Bitterness) from the 1980s. The pop-up’s historical narrative on bachata came from CUNY DSI’s NEH sponsored digital tool A History of Dominican Music in the United States bachata genre guide, which provides information on the different eras of bachata development in the mid-to-late 20th century. 

Above: First book published in the United States on bachata authored by Dr. Deborah Pacini Hernández and displayed in the House of Bachata pop-up.

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The CUNY DSI Library would like to express its gratitude to Diana Dotel and Natalie Saavedra from More Than Words (MTW) agency for this fantastic opportunity to collaborate on this pop-up and for disseminating our rich materials in such a prominent way.

For more information, please contact: Jhensen Ortiz  (jortiz2@ccny.cuny.edu) and Sarah Aponte (aponte@ccny.cuny.edu)

Right: Advertisement for a bachata dance event from the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives, The Normandía Maldonado Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More photos of some of the fascinating material exhibited in the pop-up:

     

Above, clockwise: Photos of bachata band Aventura from the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives, Margarita Madera Collection and Dominican Times Magazine Collection; José Manuel Calderón “Canta” LP from the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library Vinyl Collection; Aridia Ventura “La tremendísima” LP from the Deborah Pacini Hernández Dominican Library Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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[Deleted] 2021-08-17T09:43:43-04:00

Congrats to the DSI Team!

What a wonderful collaboration!  Also, a very nice collection of photos:)  Mi padre was a huge fan of Paniagua.

Muy bien!

Marisol Hernandez

  


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