Amanda Raquel Dorval (b. 1987), originally from Queens, NYC, is a Nuyorican-Dominican artist, library professional, and anti-war veteran who served seven years in the US Air Force as an Arabic linguist. She has a BA in Art History from Barnard College of Columbia University. In May 2022, Amanda received a master's degree in Library and Information Science from Long Island University, with a concentration in Archives Management, Rare Books and Special Collections. In May 2024, she earned an MA in Near Eastern Studies from New York University, her thesis exploring the cross-cultural influences of the Islamic World within Puerto Rican visual culture. Amanda currently works as Curatorial Associate of Exhibitions in the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Formerly, she was the Bibliographer of Indigenous American Art in Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 2021 to 2022. She was a 2022-2023 Research Fellow at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, and also has library/archive experience at the American Museum of Natural History, World Monuments Fund, Brooklyn Museum, Jewish Museum, and Wildenstein Plattner Institute.
In her art practice, Amanda examines her cultural heritage and military experiences. She is interested in the exploration of cross-cultural influences in traditional and popular Puerto Rican, Nuyorican, and Taíno heritage and culture through use of photography, photocollage, sewing, beadwork, painting, embroidery, weaving, crafting, and costume design.
She is also currently pursuing a third masters degree, a low-residency program in Fine Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts based in Santa Fe, NM.
Photo: self-portrait, 2023.
I am interested in the intersections between Puerto Rico and the Muslim World. I explore of the legacy of Islam on Puerto Rican, Nuyorican, and Taíno visual culture by reconsidering the dimensions of the islands' indigeneity and repercussions of colonialism.
I was born in New York City to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, with a genetic makeup that includes Southern Iberian, Indigenous American, and Western Sub-Saharan African. I am not Muslim, nor do I claim any cultural connections to the region commonly referred to as the Middle East and North Africa. However, as an Arabic language-learner and a scholar of Middle Eastern studies, I acknowledge the influence of Muslims and indigenous Imazighen peoples within the culture of the Caribbean, as it was imported into the region when it was colonized by Spain (which itself had been under varying degrees of Islamic rule from 711 to 1492).
My work explores larger themes of colonialism, identity, reconnection to indigenous Taíno ancestry, and cultural exchange as a result of the intermixing of different groups of people. My practice combines costume making, embroidery, beadwork, photography, painting, and photo collage in order to reimagine the meaning and nuances of Puerto Rican and Nuyorican identity.
Photo: by Joanna O'Shea, 2014
Experience
2023 - present: Curatorial Associate, Exhibitions Department, New York Public Library, New York, NY.
2023: Library Clerk; Audiovisual Collection Student Worker. New York University Libraries (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Special Collections), New York, NY.
2023: Archives Intern. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY.
2021 - 2022: Research Associate/Bibliographer of Indigenous American Art. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
2021 - 2022: Research Fellow. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York, NY.
2021 - 2022: Archives Intern. World Monuments Fund, New York, NY.
2021: Archives Intern. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
2021: Collections and Publications Intern. The Jewish Museum, New York, NY.
2021: Archives Intern. Wildenstein Plattner Institute, New York, NY.
2010-present: Freelance artist, designer, and portrait, lifestyle, and art photographer.
2018-present: PhotoVogue Portfolio
2019-Event Photographer: What's Up? Magazine, 2019 Bridal Expo, Annapolis, MD. 27 January; The Look, Annapolis, MD. 1 March. page 36; 2019 Spirit of Community Awards. Live! Casino, MD. 15 March. page 41; 15th Anniversary of South River on the Half Shell. History London Town and Gardens, MD. 9 May.
2013 - 2020: Iraqi-Arabic linguist, United States Air Force.
Group Art Exhibitions
2025 - Journeys Onward: Military Veterans' Experiences. Salmagundi Club, New York, NY. July 1 – 25.
2025 - Fragments in Our Home. L'appartement 49c, New York, NY. May 10 – 24.
2024 - On Both Sides of the Lens: Documenting the Puerto Rican Diaspora (online exhibition and accompanying book). Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, New York, NY. November 21 - ongoing.
2024 - Futures. ArtsWestchester, White Plains, NY. October 13, 2024 - January 12, 2025.
2024: - Estamos Aquí: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Arts Mid-Hudson (AMH), Poughkeepsie, NY. September 12 – October 20.
2024 - Journeys Onward: Military Veterans' Experiences. Salmagundi Club, New York, NY. June 1 – 26.
2022 - Art Work: Artists Working at The Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, curated by Daniel Krenshaw. June 6 - 19.
2022 - The Flag Project, Rockefeller Center. Only One Earth, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate Museum in New York. 1 - 30 April.
2021 - The Flag Project, Rockefeller Center. Curated by Aperture Foundation. 27 March - 30 April.
2021 - Landscape Group Exhibition, F-Stop Magazine, images 15 and 16.
2021 - Der Greif, Guest Room monthly online exhibition, curated by Anna-Alix Koffi. January 31.
2020 - OVADA Gallery, Oxford, London. Photo Oxford Festival, "Women and Photography: Ways of Seeing and Being Seen." 16 October - 16 November.
Workshops & Community Engagement
2025 - Led a workshop on beaded cemis workshop, celebrating Taíno heritage on the occasion of Earth Day. Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Boston, MA. April 24.
Publications, Exhibitions, and Blogs
2024 - "Disfraces Rebeldes: Reimagining Puerto Rico Identity Through a Practice-Led Project on the Interconnections Between the Vejigante and Islam." New York University, Esferas 15: Movimiento/Movimientos~Movement/Movements, no. 15 (Spring 2024): 151-159.
2023 - "An Introduction to Dr. Husam Khalaf’s “The Cultural Genocide of the Iraqi Archives and Iraqi Jewish Archive and International Responsibility” The Cultural Genocide of the Iraqi Archives and Iraqi Jewish Archive and International Responsibility" The Cultural Genocide of the Iraqi Archives and Iraqi Jewish Archive and International Responsibility" by Husam Abdul Ameer Khalaf, translated by Amanda Raquel Dorval. Information & Culture, 58 (1): 84–108.
2022 - A Salute to the Artistic Legacy of Native American Veterans. Perspectives: In Circulation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2022 - Past/Present/Future: Expanding Indigenous American, Latinx, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Perspectives in Thomas J. Watson Library. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2022 - The Middle Eastern Roots of Spanish and Latin American Repostería. Tertulias de Arte Hispano, Hispanic Society Museum & Library. YouTube.
2022 - From the Archives: A Focus on Ramadan. World Monuments Fund.
2022 - From the Archives: World Monuments Fund in Italy. World Monuments Fund.
2021 - "The Iraqi Ba'ath Archives: Collective Memory Loss and Authoritarian Nostalgia in the Post-Saddam Era." Libraries: Culture, History, and Society, 5 (2): 204–225.
Awards
2020 - Chromatic Awards International Color Photography Contest, Honorable mention, Amateur Portrait Category.
2020 - Chromatic Awards International Color Photography Contest, Honorable mention, Amateur Fine Art Category.
2020 - Photo Oxford, "Women & Photography: Ways of Seeing and Being Seen," 7th place.
2019 - 5th Fine Art Photography Awards, Amateur Series Nominee, Fine Arts Category.
Publicity
2020 - "Photo Oxford: a celebration of women and photography – in pictures," The Guardian.