2023 Comité Noviembre Poster
by Garvin Sierra
"Puerto Rico is NOT FOR SALE...It's Loved, Protected, and Defended!"
THEME
Our theme this year, “Puerto Rico no se vende, se ama se protege y se defiende… Puerto Rico is not for sale. It is loved, protected, and defended” continues to be a call to action for all Puerto Ricans, the Diaspora specifically who have the power to affect change by their vote! There are local elections this year and national elections next November – we want respect and change for our communities here and in Puerto Rico - "WE NEED TO VOTE!"
ARTIST
Each year Comité Noviembre commissions a Puerto Rican artist to design the annual poster to promote and inform the public about Puerto Rican Heritage Month and to create an artistic expression of the annual theme.
![img28[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a9f739_6d7bd87562eb43078075d95033b6068e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_436,h_449,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/img28%5B1%5D.jpg)
Photography: Rafael Collazo @rafacollazofoto
GARVIN SIERRA
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1977. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture and Graphic Arts from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. During his formative years, he worked as an assistant to prominent sculptors such as Ramón Berríos and Soucy de Perellano. Parallel to his work as a plastic artist, Sierra Vega currently works as a freelance graphic designer, exhibition designer, and set designer. His work has been exhibited internationally in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Japan, Slovenia, Mexico, Portugal and the United States, among other places. He is part of a prestigious private and institutional collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico (MAC), Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (MAPR) and the Museum of History and Anthropology of the University of Puerto Rico (MHAA). His artistic production has been reviewed in important publications on Puerto Rican art that include: “Interconnections, curatorial readings of the MAPR collection”, “Careos/relays: 25 years of the museum of contemporary art of Puerto Rico,” and “Frescoes: 50 Puerto Rican artists under 35 years old.” He also designed the scenery of the play Maestro II. Some of the distinctions of which he has been deserving include: First Prize Poster for Return 1903-2003, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and Honorable Mention in the Contest of Plastic Arts of the Puerto Rican Athenaeum (both in 2001); First Prize for Design Bombay Sapphire Cup (2003); First Collective Prize of Puerto Rican Artists 26th Biennial of Graphics, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2005) and Honorable Mention Young Art Contest Oriental Group (2009).
ABOUT THE POSTER
This year's theme, “Puerto Rico no se vende, se ama se protege y se defiende… Puerto Rico is not for sale. It is loved, protected, and defended” continues to be a call to action for all Puerto Ricans.
The hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemic have made all Puerto Ricans realize that they have the strength, resilience, and power to make the change that must happen in this country to achieve respect, equality, and justice for the 8 million Puerto Ricans who live on the island and the United States. But it demands action from the Diaspora! Each one of us needs to be fully engaged and active in demanding and achieving justice for Puerto Rico.
Artist Garvin Sierra states, "Puerto Rico has 125 years of constant struggle and resistance against the colonial government of the United States. This established oppression is what leads me as an artist to capture the injustices and impositions of our country from a plastic aspect. This poster represents to some extent Puerto Rico in struggle for a better health system, for a decent education, in opposition to the sale of our beaches, in opposition to displacement, where we demand equity for all communities, where no more gender violence is demanded and above all the freedom of our country.
Long live the resistance!
Long live Puerto Rico Free!"
Garvin Sierra Vega