Puerto Rico's Museum of History, Anthropology and Art

At the University of Puerto Rico you will find the Museum of History, Anthropology and Art in front of the University’s main library. The museum is small but what it holds inside is of great interest, to not only University students, but to all who are keen to learn more about the history, anthropology and art of Puerto Rico. At the museum you will find an array of pre-Colombian artifacts as well as old art and documents belonging to the University. Apart from this the museum also takes an interest in contemporary art from artists who live locally in Puerto Rico and are as much part of history as the older pieces of artwork are. Inside the museum there is an exposition hall specifically used for this purpose.

The University’s main reason for having a museum was to preserve and maintain artifacts of varying mediums for the purpose of research. Since 1935, when the first piece of the collection was taken in, the University of Puerto Rico has continued to invest in this treasure that it shares eagerly with anyone who is keen to keep up with the history of this country. Since then people like Don Rafael W. Ramírez’s have contributed by donating their own personal collections and archives.

Altogether the Museum has a huge collection of 30,000 permanent items that are kept in the museum for the use by other Universities and students who want to research and “study local and Caribbean art and cultures”. The works are made up of historical documents, archaeological artifacts, drawings, paintings, sculpture, folk art, posters, Puerto Rican and International prints, Egyptian archaeological pieces, philatelic and numismatics pieces.

There are six galleries, each with a different theme. The first is the Francisco Oller Exhibition Hall that contains his XIX century portraits, still-lives and landscapes. The Indigenous Cultures Hall has objects that come from many cultures like Igneri and Huecoid. The Temporary Exhibition Hall houses an ever-changing exhibit that changes depending on the chosen theme. At these exhibitions individual artists can come and display their own personal work that represents art movements from the past through to the present. The Egyptian Culture Exhibition Hall is the only one in Puerto Rico that specifically focuses on Ancient Egyptian funerary traditions. And then the last exhibit hall, the Jose Campeche Hall is still being built.

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Maira Diaz, Reference Librarian at Pennsauken Public Library, Pennsauken, New Jersey - 2009-12-21 15:53:28

We have a patron who is researching the history and meaning of the various aspects of Three King's Day as celebrated by Puerto Ricans. She is interested in books and/or videos/DVDs explaining the tradition and its significance. Do you have materials to that affect and/or suggestions of where to locate this information? Gratefully yours, Maira Diaz

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