Artist and archivist Doriana Diaz has been showcasing international Black art inspired by travel through her work.
Diaz, an Afro-Latina artist based in Philadelphia, has been creating beautiful collages as a way to celebrate international Black art and culture from across the diaspora.
“I believe art has DNA,” the Temple University alumna said. “Art keeps company. It is a profound language of self-expression and renewal. My work is an exploration of cultural agency, archival documentation, and rhythms of resistance and expansion.”
She continued, explaining that she began traveling the world at a very young age, which enabled her to experience different cultures. She even got to visit Africa and, later, Brazil.
“I began traveling at a very young age,” she said. “I was lucky enough to explore the world throughout my childhood. My mama was a travel agent so we went from Africa to Argentina, to Paris, and many more. The hunt for exploration was instilled in me from a very young age. I think that this passion was further developed as I got older and began to travel on my own.
Diaz added that her visit to Brazil was her first solo trip. There, she studied at The Black Feminist School.
“When I was a junior in college, I decided to apply to a program in Cachoeira, Brazil,” she said. “This program was a week of studying at The Black Feminist School. This was my first trip flying solo to another country.”
She also created a Black digital archive titled the Diaz Collections, which is currently up on its official Instagram page.
“The Diaz Collections is a living entity of proof of my birthright… It came from a passion for archival practice and cultural preservation. I came to The Diaz Collections from the hymnal of [legendary poet] Sonia Sanchez, “I shall become a collector of me. And put meat on my soul.'”
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Diaz noted that being an archivist “is to be a memory worker.”
“To be a curator or archivist of any kind is to be a memory worker,” she said. “My work has always been rooted in the idea of ensuring that whatever is made through a vessel of mine is preserved for the collective memory, for the lines of lineage within me, and beyond my own human form.”
You can find Diaz via her official Instagram page @bydorianadiaz.
