Flagpole Piñata Party

Artist Miguel Braceli presents Flag­pole Piña­ta Par­ty, a par­tic­i­pa­to­ry per­for­mance from his ongo­ing project Eman­ci­pa­to­ry Lands (Tier­ras Libres). Draw­ing on the Latin Amer­i­can tra­di­tion of the piña­ta, the work trans­forms the flag from a sym­bol of bor­ders and nation­al pow­er into a shared ves­sel for cel­e­bra­tion, exchange, and col­lec­tive imag­i­na­tion. Pre­sent­ed by Mon­u­ment Lab, the New York City Depart­ment of Cul­tur­al Affairs (DCLA), Gov­er­nors Island Arts, and LA ESCUELA___, the project uses music, pro­ces­sion, and shared mak­ing to reflect on transna­tion­al­i­ty, belong­ing, and col­lec­tive identity.

The event will take place at Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 17. Chil­dren and fam­i­lies are invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in a drop-in work­shop from 3 – 5PM, orga­nized in col­lab­o­ra­tion with LA ESCUELA___, where par­tic­i­pants will cre­ate small objects to fill the piñatas and con­tribute to the performance.

At 5PM, a pro­ces­sion led by the First Pana­man­ian March­ing Band of Brook­lyn will move through the park, with par­tic­i­pants car­ry­ing a col­lec­tive flag made from mul­ti­ple flag­poles. The per­for­mance will cul­mi­nate with the break­ing of flag-shaped piñatas and the redis­tri­b­u­tion of their con­tents among participants.

The project is pre­sent­ed as a cel­e­bra­tion of The Flag, Braceli’s per­ma­nent pub­lic art­work com­mis­sioned through NYC Per­cent for Art by the New York City Depart­ment of Cul­tur­al Affairs, in part­ner­ship with the New York City Depart­ment of Design and Con­struc­tion and the Depart­ment of Parks and Recreation.

This event is free and open to the pub­lic. RSVP to secure your spot.

About the Artist

Miguel Braceli is an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary artist work­ing at the inter­sec­tion of art, archi­tec­ture, and social prac­tices. His artis­tic prac­tice cen­ters on par­tic­i­pa­to­ry projects in pub­lic spaces, explor­ing both geopo­lit­i­cal and local con­flicts through large-scale works across Latin Amer­i­ca, Europe, the Mid­dle East, and the Unit­ed States.

Braceli has pre­sent­ed per­for­mances, exhi­bi­tions, and edu­ca­tion­al projects in col­lab­o­ra­tion with renowned insti­tu­tions such as MoMA Ps1, Doc­u­men­ta Fif­teen, The Bronx Muse­um of Arts, Hemi­spher­ic Insti­tute NY with MUAC-UNAM, Matadero Madrid, Museo Mod­er­no de Buenos Aires, Athr Foun­da­tion, the Unti­tled Art Fair, and Pace Gallery. His work has been high­light­ed in influ­en­tial jour­nals and mag­a­zines, includ­ing e‑flux Crit­i­cism, Forbes, Art Basel and Art Review.

He has par­tic­i­pat­ed in esteemed res­i­den­cies and pro­grams, includ­ing Mac­Dow­ell (2023), Foun­tain­head (2023), Skowhe­gan School of Paint­ing (2022), Art Omi (2021), and McColl Cen­ter for Art (2020). Addi­tion­al­ly, he was an AIM Bronx Muse­um Fel­low (2022), Fine Arts Work Cen­ter Fel­low (2024), and Mon­u­ment Lab Fel­low (2026).

Braceli’s recent recog­ni­tions include being a Ful­bright Schol­ar (2019−2020), the Young Artist Award from the Prin­ci­pal­i­ty of Asturias (2018), and the Tul­sa Artist Fel­low­ship Award (2024−2026). In 2021, he co-found­ed LA ESCUELA___ with Siemens Stiftung Inter­na­tion­al. In 2022, he received a com­mis­sion from the Per­cent for Art pro­gram to cre­ate a per­ma­nent large-scale pub­lic art­work in New York City.

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Pre­sent­ed as part of INTER­VEN­TIONS, Gov­er­nors Island Arts’ annu­al mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary per­for­mance series that presents local, nation­al, and inter­na­tion­al artists and invites audi­ences to expe­ri­ence work made and adapt­ed for out­door spaces. INTER­VEN­TIONS is curat­ed by Juan Pablo Siles, Cura­tor and Pro­duc­er at the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. Sup­port for INTER­VEN­TIONS is pro­vid­ed by the NYC May­or’s Office of Media & Entertainment.

Flag­pole Piña­ta Par­ty on Gov­er­nors Island is co-pre­sen­t­ed by Mon­u­ment Lab, New York City Depart­ment of Cul­tur­al Affairs (DCLA), and LA ESCUELA___.