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CV

KIANA SOTO ANDRADES

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

kianasotoandrades.com 

 

kiana.s.andrades@gmail.com 

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PROFILE

 

Interdisciplinary designer, visual artist, curator, and researcher working across archives and Afro-Caribbean memory. Trained in architecture, my practice expands into relational and community-based methodologies that engage Black diasporic histories through artistic creation, photography, and spatial inquiry. I explore how fragmented archives, oral histories, and embodied knowledge can be activated through visual storytelling and creative processes.

EDUCATION

 

University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Master of Architecture (M.Arch), 2019
Bachelor of Environmental Design (B.EnvD), 2017

Harvard University – Afro-Latin American Research Institute (ALARI)
Certificate in Afro-Latin American Studies, 2025

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PROFESSIONAL & COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE

 

Movimiento Anansé Inc. — Puerto Rico
Revista étnica / Editorial étnica

Head Designer, Editorial Collaborator (2019–Present)

  • Collaborate on a multimedia platform focused on Black communities and cultural representation in Puerto Rico

  • Develop editorial, visual, and research-based content centered on Afro-diasporic histories

  • Engage in community-centered storytelling across digital and print platforms

  • Design and produce editorial materials for print and digital publication

  • Support cultural and educational initiatives connecting art, research, and social impact

ARCHIVAL & RESEARCH PRACTICE

Movimiento Anansé Inc. — Puerto Rico
Archivo Negro

Project Manager, Researcher & Curator (2023–Present)

  • Conduct archival research on historical photographic collections documenting Black life in Puerto Rico

  • Develop narrative frameworks connecting historical archives with contemporary cultural discourse

  • Work with institutional archives including the El Mundo Newspaper Archive (UPR-RP) and the Library of Congress

  • Produce curatorial texts and conceptual narratives for digital collections

SELECTED PROJECTS, RESEARCH & EXHIBITIONS

 

“Proyecto Aya”
Speculative Archive Construction, 2026–Present

  • Ongoing research project centered on familial genealogy and Afro-Puerto Rican lineage

  • Investigates Black Puerto Rican migration to New York and intra-Caribbean Afro-diasporic movements

  • Develops speculative archival frameworks to reconstruct fragmented histories and silenced narratives, particularly those of Black women in relation to mental health and motherhood

  • Combines writing, visual production, and archival methodologies as forms of resistance and memory-making

  • Envisioned as both a community-based exhibition and a methodological framework for reconstructing marginalized histories

 

“Barrio Adentro” – Exhibition, Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar
December 2025

  • Featured work: Un café en el Fanguito

  • Explores place-based memory and everyday life through collage and visual storytelling

 

“BATEY[ES]”
Final Project, ALARI Certificate, 2025

  • Research-based and poetic narrative on Afro-Caribbean migration between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

  • Combines writing and digital collage as forms of visual storytelling

  • Explores displacement, race, and diasporic identity

 

“Visibilizando el recorrido de Santiago Apóstol: Integración urbana y reconocimiento a la identidad afropuertorriqueña en Loíza”
Master’s Thesis, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, 2019

  • Urban and spatial study centered on the cultural route of Santiago Apóstol in Loíza

  • Examines Afro-Puerto Rican identity through ritual, procession, and public space

  • Proposes architectural and urban strategies that center Black cultural memory and community presence

  • Serves as a foundational framework for my ongoing exploration of Afro-diasporic spatial practices

CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS

The ALARI Second Continental Conference on Afro-Latin American Studies
Boston, Massachusetts, USA — December 7, 2022
Panel: Negritud y Periodismo: Revista étnica, cuatro ediciones de afroperiodismo en Puerto Rico

Cumbre Internacional de Afrodescendencia (3rd Edition), University of Puerto Rico
March 21, 2024
Panel: Ciberactivismos: Nuevos palenques de la re-existencia

The ALARI Third Continental Conference on Afro-Latin American Studies
São Paulo, Brazil — July 10, 2024

  • Panel: Étnica: 5 años de artivismo y periodismo antirracista

  • Presentation: Archivo Negro: Nuestra cultura a través del lente

Cumbre Internacional de Afrodescendencia (5th Edition), University of Puerto Rico
March 21, 2024

  • Panel: Virtualidad, redes y archivos comunitarios para la autorrepresentación

  • Presentation: Revista étnica + Archivo Negro: La 6ta edición de colección — La gente negra, al centro y al frente

 

The ALARI Fourth Continental Conference on Afro-Latin American Studies (Accepted)
Cali, Colombia — July 2026
Presentation: BATEY[ES]: Migración afrocaribeña y el arte para documentarnos y resistir

SKILLS

  • Archival Research & Curation

  • Interdisciplinary Artistic Practice

  • Editorial Writing, Design & Creative Direction

  • Visual Design (Adobe Creative Suite)

  • Exhibition & Spatial Design

  • Community-based methodologies

  • Languages: Spanish (native), English (fluent)

 

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Afro-Puerto Rican genealogies and fragmented archives

  • Migration narratives between Puerto Rico and New York

  • Relational and community-based artistic practices

  • Black spatial practices and vernacular knowledge

  • Intersections of photography, collage, writing, and memory

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