Soraya Aracena is a

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, who specialises in the religious and cultural practices of

black Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the t ...

communities. In additional to her research she has also founded cultural festivals and an ethnographic video archive.

Biography

Aracena obtained first studied Communication at undergraduate level. She graduated from the MA in Studies of the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

from the Centre for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in 1997. In 1990 she worked as part of the team curating Dominican and Haitian artefacts for the creation of the collection of the Museum of the Americas. In 1994 she founded ''Los Festivales Anthropológicos de Cultura Afroamericanas'' (The Anthropological Festivals of Afro-American Cultures), which sort to enhance understanding and showcase the importance of black culture in

hispanophone Hispanophone and Hispanic refers to anything relating to the Spanish language (the Hispanosphere). In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is th ...

Caribbean countries. She also established the Chango Prieto online video library, which records and archives ethnographic material relating to the Dominican Republic. Known for her research on the black cultural practices in the country, on particular work on Dominican Gagá and its history, Aracena has also worked on traditions associated with St Michael. She was also worked on the role of culinary traditions in diasporic communities. She is also an expert on the history of merengue. Research collaborators have included

Jose Francisco Alegria Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

, with whom she undertook field work which led to publication on voodoo in the Dominican Republic. She has been outspoken on the need for greater recognition of the archaeologist

Fernando Morbán Laucer Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

's work in Dominican archaeology, especially at the Cueva de las Maravillas National Park. In 2022 she was a member of the judging panel for the National Carnival Parade. In the same year she advocated for the establishment of a specialist college to teach carnival practices, including textile art.

Selected works

* Aracena, Soraya. "Cuentos folklóricos dominicanos." ''Cuadernos de Letra Gráfica• núm'' (2009). * Aracena, Soraya. ''Los inmigrantes norteamericanos de Samaná''. Helvetas Asociación Suiza para la Cooperación Internacional, 2000. * Aracena, Soraya. ''Apuntes sobre la negritud en República Dominicana''. Helvetas, 1999.

References

External links

Soraya Aracena invita a la sexta edición de “Afrodescendientes hoy”
(interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aracena, Soraya Date of birth missing (living people) Women anthropologists Women curators Dominican Republic academics Dominican Republic writers Dominican Republic women Year of birth missing (living people) Living people