This article is part of our series, PR pa'l Mundo, a bridge of stories, ideas and opinions that shed light on what Puerto Ricans in the diaspora are doing, from any corner of the world.
Ask any Puerto Rican and our map is something special. That archipelago of islands, islets and cays is the only one of its kind in the Caribbean.
It's the one we see on keychains, tattoos, towels and jewelry, and it's part of our identity. To wear it is to say "I come from here," "I love this archipelago," and to feel a deep pride in where you're from.
What if this map expands and takes on forms that go beyond its geographic boundaries? What if it keeps representing us at other latitudes? A diverse, talented and multifaceted map.
Yes, a map that marks Puerto Rican cultural work beyond our shores. One that gathers, groups and shares the best of Puerto Rican culture in the United States.
BoriCorridor is a registry designed to help cultural organizations and artists build networks and collaborate. The cultural platform gives visibility to Puerto Rican creators and connects them with the Puerto Rican diaspora.
"Where are my people?"
For Elsa Mosquera, its director, a Puerto Rican entrepreneur in the publishing industry, it was necessary to know where people like her were. In 2013, life, love and recovery from an illness led her to settle in Boston, Massachusetts, but she never stopped doing what she loved most: working for culture and nurturing her love for Puerto Rico.
She felt a fire in her chest, the passionate kind, pointing her toward the path ahead. She wanted to know where the people like her were: cultural managers and their projects.
Some of the organizations registered in BoriCorridor are in states such as New Jersey and Connecticut, where 456,589 and 288,344 Puerto Ricans reside, respectively. Map screenshot.
Mosquera has always had a strong interest in the cultural world. In 2015, she joined Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción as director of its arts programs, a Puerto Rican community-based organization that started in Boston's South End neighborhood in the late 1960s.
"After four years of productivity, getting to know the city and understanding that 20% of the population is Latino, and that within that percentage there is a large Puerto Rican share, it made me go looking for answers: where are we, how do we collaborate, who are we and how do we connect," the director reflected in a virtual conversation.
Mosquera is a co-founder, along with Zeida García Casillas, of Ágora Cultural Architects, a consulting and production agency committed to Latino art and culture in the United States. BoriCorridor is one of its most important and ambitious projects.
The initiative aims to connect a vast network of cultural workers in the United States and serve as a tool for Puerto Rican artists in the archipelago and the diaspora to communicate, collaborate and showcase their work.
"The archipelago and the diaspora are very closely connected, culturally and emotionally. We are all linked by a feeling we can't quite explain."
Elsa Mosquera
Any cultural manager or administrator of a space or event dedicated to preserving and conserving Puerto Rican culture can have an active profile so that others can find their space and the information about their organization or project.
"We started two years ago and today we have 240 organizations registered from Washington, D.C., to Maine," Mosquera said.
A Boricua Tour!
In 2024, the first Bori Tour was held, bringing Puerto Rican artists to perform at major venues and cities.
The Teatro Breve collective, the Jazz Boricua group, artists Hermes Croatto and Kianí Medina, and the theatrical piece Quintuples were part of this first tour, which had a presence in Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; and New York City.
"I always think of it as a Puerto Rican Corridor, a corridor of art and culture. For us, artists are the most important element connecting us. That's why we want artists and creatives to know they can count on this platform to connect and reach new audiences," Mosquera said.
In 2025, ¡Ponte en el Mapa!
For 2025, the search expands to the southeastern United States. "We're heading south. The project runs from Washington, D.C., to Florida, including Texas and Chicago. We're broadening the search for cultural organizations and managers, and we're preparing for a year of a lot of connection."
If you are a cultural manager or know someone in these cities, you can visit the official page to add your information to the map. You can also follow the initiative on social media to find out about the upcoming Bori Tour 2025.
The author is a Puerto Rican creative, communicator, cultural manager and co-creator of the cultural blog Sabor Coco.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
