Exhibit on display in the W. W. Hagerty Library now through June 17, 2022
The Drexel University Libraries’ latest exhibit features the artwork and writing of students in
Professor Celeste Mann’s Spanish 410 course,
Performing Spanish: Language Proficiency through the Arts. As part of the course, students were challenged to create original books based on the practice of cartoneras (cardboard publishing)—an alternative publishing and art movement committed to community engagement, social activism, economic justice and literacy.
The students’ own cardboard books make up the exhibit
Drexel Cartonera: Memorias al Cartón, on display in the W. W. Hagerty Library now through June 2022.
The books in this exhibit are original creations written in Spanish and inspired by the Cartoneras street publishing movement in Latin America. “Cartoneras” or “Catadoras” (in Portuguese) were started in Argentina in the early 21st century and quickly spread to Brazil, Chile, México, Spain, and other Latin American countries. “Eloísa Cartonera” and “Dulcinea Catadora” street publishing cooperatives were pioneers in this endeavor, and others followed. People who made their lives by picking through garbage and recyclables in Argentina and Brazil, some of them homeless, began making books from leftover cardboard, uniquely painting their covers.
The exhibit is free and open to all members of the Drexel community and the public. Please visit the University's
visitor policy page before coming to campus.
The exhibit will be on display in the W. W. Hagerty Library atrium March 14 through June 17, 2022. 
