Librería Donceles

June 21–December 22, 2024

Themes
  • Donceles Street
  • Socially Engaged Art

Librería Donceles is a socially engaged art project that Mexican artist and educator Pablo Helguera created out of a desire to address the lack of Spanish bookstores that serve the growing Latinx communities in the United States. This traveling bookshop, composed of more than 8,000 Spanish-language books will have its temporary home at Arte Américas from June 21st and run through December 22nd, 2024.  

The installation premiered in New York in 2013 and has since traveled to Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Indianapolis, Anchorage, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and Annapolis. In each of these cities, it has been the sole Spanish-language bookstore. Part functioning bookstore and part participatory installation, Librería Donceles is a space that channels the atmosphere of old bookshops found in Latin American cities – the aroma of aged paper, an inviting armchair, that hint of dust. The name Donceles pays homage to Calle Donceles, a street located at Mexico City’s Historic Center, renowned for its eclectic array of used bookshops, frequented by literary enthusiasts, where Helguera himself found inspiration and hidden treasures while growing up in Mexico City.   

Pablo Helguera’s Librería Donceles offers a distinct art experience beyond mere contemplation, created for the community to physically engage with Spanish-language books and participate in multilingual programming designed to encourage cultural understanding, tolerance, and social activism. You are welcome to browse, hang out, or play chess while listening to a soundtrack of boleros. You can also buy a book by donation (all funds will go to local Latinx organization). 

GALLERY