Ana Vaz's 'Amérika – Bahia de las flechas' Revisits Indigenous Resistance in the Dominican Republic

Artist Ana Vaz created the work 'Amérika – Bahia de las flechas', inspired by historical resistance against Spanish colonization in the Dominican Republic. The piece revisits Lago Enriquillo, named after the 16th-century cacique Enrique who led a rebellion. Enrique withdrew with his people to remote mountains for nearly fifteen years, evading Spanish patrols and attracting other discontented residents, including African and Indigenous slaves and servants. The subtitle references the Bay of Arrows, the former name of Samaná, where legend says Indigenous people greeted Spanish arrivals with a dense volley of arrows. Vaz uses the camera as an extension of her body, employing an ethnographic observation to evoke cultural and ecological changes in the territory, allowing history to emerge from the landscape itself. The work blends written and oral information with visual and auditory appreciation, continuing Vaz's exploration of the relationship between culture and nature and questioning the naming of places. For the Acervo Comentado Videobrasil, curator and art historian Sabrina Moura provides commentary on the work. Acervo Comentado Videobrasil is a partnership between arte!brasileiros and the Associação Cultural Videobrasil, publishing a part of its archive every 15 days.