Domino Table Talks: Oral Histories at Play

An evening of screenings and conversation exploring Domino Table Talks—a signature Historias series from The Clemente that reimagines storytelling around the domino table. The program highlights migration, cultural memory, and the power of collective storytelling.

Following the screenings, OHMA alum Samantha Sacks, Libertad Guerra, and Sofía Reeser del Rio will discuss how oral history methods move from the classroom to the field, centering community engagement and the democratization of archives through play—treating the stories we carry as living archives, shared in non-linear, intergenerational, and communal ways.The evening concludes with an open Q&A and a possible live domino activation with The Clemente’s Micro-Residents Capicú and NuevaYorkinos.

This program is connected to Nueva York Chronicles and Historias (Embodied Heritage); grounded in collective memory and public history, recovering narratives that continue to shape our common story.

Panellists:

Libertad O. Guerra is an urban anthropologist, curator, and cultural organizer/producer with extensive experience in arts management, particularly during the startup and strategic phases of community-based cultural organizations. Since 2020, she has served as Executive Director and Chief Curator of The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, guiding its growth and earning significant grants and recognition. She is Chief Curator of the Historias initiative, a citywide, multi-year project that reimagines Latinx cultural history through public programs, research, and commissions. She is also deeply engaged in environmental justice and cultural equity work—as a co-founder of South Bronx Unite, a board member of Mott Haven/Port Morris Community Land Stewards, and a founding member of the Latinx Arts Consortium LxNY and the Shape of Cities to Come Institute.

Samantha Sacks is the Oral History and Research Fellow at the Clemente Center and a company dancer with the New York Theatre Ballet. An alumna of the Columbia Oral History Master of Arts (OHMA), her ongoing research uses oral history to ask how the body expresses and transmits memory through dance, with a focus on the Cuban ballet diaspora.  She has cultivated relationships with artists across New York, Cuba and Puerto Rico, collaborating on research, writing, and public programs with a range of arts institutions. Samantha was born and raised in Chicago. 

Sofía Reeser del Rio is Associate Director of Programs and Curator at The Clemente and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute. She is curator of the Historias initiative and its signature series. Her practice bridges pedagogy and public engagement, reimagining archives as living, participatory spaces. She is a 2024 A&L Berg Foundation Fellow and has held additional fellowships and awards supporting her curatorial and scholarly work. She is also a founding member and collaborator with Mujeres de Islas, a grassroots organization in Culebra, Puerto Rico. Her recent publications include an essay on Joiri Minaya in Contact Sheet (Light Work, 2023) and The Shadow That Shelters You on Edra Soto’s public art (Upstate Art Weekend, 2025).

Host or Publisher The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural &Education Center