Home Our Cultura Diaspora 9 Boricua Instagram Creatives Whose Feeds You’ll Want to Scroll All Day

9 Boricua Instagram Creatives Whose Feeds You’ll Want to Scroll All Day

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Puerto Rico, an island gem in the Caribbean, was one of the first to be colonized by the Spanish and one of the stops along the slavery train of the 16th-19th centuries. This unfortunate history has yielded a blended culture that includes diverse races and at least two languages spoken on the island, Spanish and English. Puerto Rico’s uncomfortable position as a demi-state of the USA has not stopped a generation of impressive artists and creatives who use their straddle-position between two places to enhance their work. Las boricuas, whose name alludes to the aboriginal name for the island, Borinquén, are especially interested in preserving the color and sound of their homeland, even as their creations travel the world. For those of us not able to chase them down in person, we can follow their work through their fascinating IG accounts.

9 Johanny Ivelisse 

Johanny Ivelisse, a musician, and composer is dedicated to the sounds of her native Puerto Rico. She has written and performed music on the island and around the world and is also a dedicated educator of young musicians. She brought her latest piece, an opera entitled Frenesí, to Miami and now the piece will be performed at Italy’s Puccini Festival in Italy, which shows how far she has come. 

8 Namibia Viera 

NYC-based fashion designer, Namibia Viera wants you to remember where she comes from. She earned a BFA on the island, then moved to the US to complete her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has worked for Oscar de la Renta and Prabal Gurung, designed for Lady Gaga, and been recognized by Stacy Bendet, the brain behind Alice and Olivia. But her clothes are inspired by Puerto Rico — collections are airy, colorful, and always include the requisite swimsuit.

7 Adriana Lizardi

Taking a peek at Adriana Lizardi’s IG account will reward you with behind the scenes looks at what it’s like to be a professional ballerina. Working in London, currently, Adriana shares bits of rehearsals, performances, and her regular daily life, proudly representing her island in her ballet corps.

6 Ingrid Rivera

She always thought she’d become a lawyer, but the boredom of accounting class led Ingrid Rivera to change tracks dramatically. As a make-up artist, she has been able to represent the island while working with big brands like L’oreal, Maybelline, and Sephora, as well as traveling the world as a boricua makeup artist. Not only in her page full of proud family photos, there are tons of beauty inspo to be found.

5 Valerie Moreno

Valerie Moreno is not interested in leaving the island just yet. Instead, her vision is to capture as many afros in Puerto Rico as she can. @afrosinsanjuan is a tribute to the curls and waves of African hair, an ongoing roundup of the beauty of natural hair.

4 Vanessa Vila and Dagi Rodriguez

Call them the boricua Dr. Ruths, or don’t, but check out Vanessa Vila and Dagi Rodriguez’s IG account @papayatropical_, where these two ladies have created a space to promote and illustrate the principles of sex that satisfies all women, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

3 Rangely García

Don’t panic if the thumbnail on Rangely García’s IG account shows her as a cartoon avatar. She isn’t hiding but rather revealing herself to be a publicist-turned-art director at @atencionatencion, where she animates and voices educational programming for children. For adults, Rangely has a series of animated political strips and satire, so we need not feel left out.

2 Bianca Nieves 

Bianca Nieves can’t believe that at 24 she is already realizing her dream to be a freelance writer. But here she is, a freelance writer in NYC, bringing the boricua perspective to whatever topic she investigates. Her personal and professional account is a mosaic of interesting observations about the world around her.

1 Yalitza Lozano García

We saved Yalitza Lozano García for dessert, lest the sight of her gorgeous pastries inspire us to skip lunch and go straight for the cake. A former visual artist, Yalitza took her keen eye for color and detail, and now applies it to buttercream and chocolate. Scroll her page to see the delicious creations for sale at her island shop, Double Cake.

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