explore pioneer square
Welcome to the Original Seattle Neighborhood – rich in history, arts, culture, and food!
Join ARTS at King Street Station for First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square to celebrate Welcome to Paradise: ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre! by Jo Cosme!
The reception will feature a live Bomba performance by Otoqui Reyes! Come ready to play, connect, and dive into a facilitated game where every move opens up the questions shaping Borikén/Puerto Rico today.
From Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Otoqui was raised in the traditions of the Ayala and Cepeda families, has spent over 30 years immersed in Bomba as an artist and educator. Bomba is an Afro-Puerto Rican tradition created by enslaved West Africans who turned drums, dance, and song into a language of resistance and survival. In Bomba, the dancer commands and the drummer answers, a dialogue that carries memory, identity, and struggle. More than music, it was and remains a space where community gathers, culture endures, and freedom is envisioned. Today, Bomba speaks truth to colonialism and inequality while sparkling joy, healing, and solidarity. Through his group Hijos de Agüeybaná, Otoqui continues this lineage, teaching and performing to ensure Bomba thrives as both heritage and present-day call to liberation.
