Los códigos ancestrales

002, 006, 007

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Petro 007

A visual report on Taíno petroglyphs informing on the material, textural, symbolic, and historic properties of these rock carvings. The photographs were taken in January 2025 at El Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Caguana in Utuado, PR.

Available at Casa Riel

4.5” x 10” in
Hand-bound
Grey Stock 20lb

Thatanos VF
CoFo Sans Mono VF
Inter
Bosiba

Los códigos ancestrales are a speculative system of characters inspired by carved stone, oral history, and the desire to see and be seen through one's erased native language. I reimagine a version of the Native Arawakan-Taíno language that is untouched by colonial forces. Bosiba is not a translation, but an attempt to envision a lost and undocumented communication system. It is an interpretation full of symbolism, gesture, and intuition.

Bosiba is a speculative, totally fictional, non-disruptive alphabet that exists in a decolonized Taino utopia. The visual influence of aboriginal petroglyphs is manifested in its handwritten character and organic lifeform. In an attempt to bring it back to its original tactile field, I carve a selection of its letters into stone. I then design a complementary collection of complementary publications.

I do not seek to touch, affect, or change Taino history. Instead, I seek to decolonize our language through the use of typography as an anti-colonial tool.

Bosiba Alphabet

Bosiba is a 29-count hieroglyphic system that exists in a fictional Puerto Rico that was never colonized. It creation reveals the many curiosities about the cognitive, social, and artistic processes through which the mind goes when attempting to communicate.

Hand-Carved Stone Specimen

Letters from the Bosiba alphabet are hand-carved onto grey Kenyan soaptone, These specimens arise from a deeply cultural study of the Native Caribbean Taino people’s petroglyphic systems. This permanent marking is an attempt to bring the alphabet back to it original chiseled and organic state.

Complementary Publications

A trio of publications — Bosiba Type Specimen [002], Índice Taino Boricua [006], and Petro [007] — complementary to the physical stone specimens and alphabet. Their fragmentation allows for a hierarchal and layered reading experience.