Exodus|Pilgrimage is a performance artwork created by Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz to honor the survivors of Hurricane Maria,

ABOUT EXODUS|PILGRIMAGE:
This project examines and draws attention to the sustained needs of Orlando-based Puerto Ricans relocated in Hurricane Maria’s aftermath, while connecting to our nation’s larger immigration crisis being played out, without being exploitative of people or their circumstance.

This project included interviews, video, and photo documentation.
On December 16-20, 2018, Raimundi-Ortiz and her production manager/costume designer, Kristina Tollefson, traveled to Puerto Rico to collect debris for use in the project as well as interview hurricane survivors on the island as part of her creative research.

On April 13, 2019, as part of the 2019 UCF Celebrates the Arts, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz presented a new public performance procession addressing the forced migration of thousands of Puerto Ricans to the United States with whatever they could salvage on their backs to Orlando and the trauma to those left behind as a result of Hurricane Maria. Dressed in attire made from hurricane debris that references Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric wardrobe, she dragged and accumulated a debris “train” behind her as part of a ritualistic “pilgrimage” along the downtown Orlando cultural corridor. Wanda was accompanied by live Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric singers Plena Mar Latino throughout her journey. These processions are direct references to traditional outdoor street events, such as parrandas, which are used to call community members out of their homes and join the singing, which customarily ends in a large celebration of music and food. Wanda’s variation culminated in a bombazo, Afro-Puerto Rican drumming and dancing, performed inside the Dr. Phillips Performing Art Center DeVos Ballroom by regional bomba musicians Cukiara. Musicians, dancers, student volunteers and community members greeted those that followed and joined the event.
The garment was created by UCF costume design professor Kristina Tollefson, a frequent collaborator with Raimundi-Ortiz.

Performers include Plena Mar Latino, Cukiara and many volunteers from UCF and the greater Orlando area.
Special thanks to UCF Celebrates the Arts, UCF, Orlando Public Art Advisory Board, CityArts Orlando, Barbara Hartley, Downtown Arts District, Gisela Carbonell, Cornell Fine Art Museum at Rollins College, Shannon Fitzgerald, UCF College of Arts and Humanities, School of Visual Art and Design, UCF Women and Gender Studies, UCF Puerto Rico Research Hub, UCF Leadership Empowerment Program, Michael and Michele Bonilla, Gretchen Raymond Smith, Alba Baez Breton, Benjamin Valentin, Nancy Rosado, Fernando Rivera, Ilenia Colon Mendoza,