Cuarto de Pegar: A Performance of Poetry and Music by Pablo Helguera

Cuarto de Pegar / Collage Parlor is a performance by artist Pablo Helguera that includes storytelling, poetry, and music, culminating a year of research and exploration within the collection of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.

Cuarto de Pegar departs from an early memory of the artist in his childhood home in Colonia Roma in Mexico City, a large house once owned and initially furnished by his grandfather, Ignacio Helguera, who had a particular fascination with Spanish art and literature.

This event will feature a solo performance, a theatrical monologue, that incorporates poetry, song, and storytelling in pieces composed by the artist. It will include a musician to accompany the performance and a digital projector to display archival material. The autobiographical narrative will be a reflection upon the cultural relationship between Latin America and Spain and the inheritance of those historical narratives for a Mexican family that emigrated to the United States. The work will include musical excerpts of works by Manuel De Falla (Siete Canciones Populares Españolas), Zarzuela (“Yo no sé qué veo en Ana Mari”, from
“El Caserío” by Guridi), and a Spanish Renaissance song from the Cancionero de Upsala (“Si la Noche Haze Escura”).

This performance is the result of research and interactions with staff at the Hispanic Society Museum and Library as a part of Pablo’s 2023 NYSCA Artist Fellowship.