Pablo Delano, a Trinity College faculty member and Charles A. Dana Professor of Fine Arts, will show his installation The Museum of the Old Colony at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) from October 30, 2026, to January 31, 2027. It is Delano's first solo show in Brazil. The work examines Puerto Rico's colonial status through archival images and everyday objects.
What the installation does
The piece works as "a museum within a museum." It copies the conventions of museum display, such as wall labels, enlarged archival photographs, and objects set out for viewing, and then questions those conventions. Historical photographs are enlarged and mounted directly on the walls without frames. They sit alongside ordinary objects, including bottles of Old Colony soda. That soda was created in the United States and is now sold almost exclusively in Puerto Rico, which is where the exhibition takes its title.
The exhibition brings together images, objects, and documents covering Puerto Rico's history from Spanish rule to its present status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Adriano Pedrosa, MASP's artistic director, and Fernando Oliva, a MASP curator, organized the show.
The curator's reading
Oliva described Delano's approach as "a different way of looking at the history of Puerto Rico and its colonization by the United States." He said the work is "certainly more critical, but also imbued with a certain wit and irony," and argued that denunciation and resistance can use humor "as a viral and disruptive strategy." These remarks are the curator's interpretation of the work, not an independent assessment.
Where the project has been shown
The Museum of the Old Colony was part of the 2024 Venice Biennale, curated by Pedrosa. It has also been exhibited at institutions in Puerto Rico, the United States, Argentina, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Its most recent prior showing was at the New Britain Museum of Art in Connecticut in spring 2026. Delano has been collecting archival images of Puerto Rico since the late 1990s, and the project has been shown at museums worldwide since 2016.
Practical details for visitors
The exhibition is part of MASP's annual program on Latin American histories, which this year also includes work by several other artists. Readers planning a trip should check MASP's website for current opening hours, ticketing, and admission rules, as these details were not included in the source material. Because the show runs through January 31, 2027, its dates fall well after the announcement, so confirm the schedule before traveling.