A DEEP SPACE PERFORMANCE RESIDENCY
Photo by Mallika Chandaria; Pictured: Zuleyma Guevara in Mercedes: Para los Callejones
Mercedes: Para los Callejones
NACL is pleased to welcome back Modesto ‘Flako’ Jimenez and ¡Oye! Group to continue the development of Mercedes: Para los Callejones, a multidisciplinary stage play inspired by Flako’s grandmother, who raised him in Bushwick after he immigrated to the U.S. As her caregiver during her battle with dementia, Flako uncovered a trove of personal archives—letters, receipts, and documents—that revealed her quiet legacy in helping Latine families migrate and survive. Blending documentary, visual installation, and live performance, Mercedes traces one woman’s impact across generations, exploring matriarchy, memory, identity, and the complex inheritance of familial and cultural trauma.
On Saturday, November 15th at 6pm, ¡Oye! will present a staged reading of Mercedes. The presentation will be primarily in Spanish with English translation. Audiences are invited to share soup and conversation afterward.
PLEASE NOTE: the start time for this presentation will be 6:00pm
About the Artist
Modesto “Flako” Jimenez is a Dominican-born, Bushwick-raised, multi-hyphenate artist. As a poet, playwright, educator, actor, producer, and director, his work exists in and explores the intersections of identity, language, mediums, cultures, and communities found in his personal life and beyond. Jimenez’s work includes Taxilandia, a site-specific performance in a moving taxi that received a Critic’s Pick from Time Out New York and The New York Times and was recently recognized with an Obie Special Citation Award. Jimenez is the founder of ¡Oye! Group, a nonprofit that serves as an incubator for artists, both native and immigrant to New York City. In 2021, Jimenez received a Jerome Foundation Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts award in performing arts and theater. Jimenez has been selected as a Princeton Hodder Fellow for 2023-2024 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 2024.
Mercedes is produced by ¡Oye! Group and supported by a grant from The MAP Fund