In “’Yo soy Calibán’: Rafael Trelles reinterpreta a Shakespeare desde el Caribe en antesala a muestra en Londres” [“I am Caliban”: Rafael Trelles reinterprets Shakespeare from a Caribbean perspective in anticipation of his London exhibition] Víctor Ramos Rosado reviews a marvelous exhibition by Rafael Trelles, “Axis Mundi” (I saw it twice, loved it, and highly recommend it). Now on view at Museo de las Américas, in San Juan, Puerto Rico (see previous post), “Axis Mundi” will open on November 26, 2026, at October Gallery (at 24 Old Gloucester Street) in London. Here are excerpts of Ramos Rosado’s excellent review piece. For full article, in Spanish, visit El Nuevo Día.
Halfway between intuition and cultural memory, Puerto Rican artist Rafael “Rafi” Trelles revisits the figure of Caliban, one of the most striking characters in William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” as a contemporary symbol of identity, resilience, and nature. Two of these pieces are part of the exhibition currently on view at the Museum of the Americas [Museo de las Américas], a preview of his upcoming solo show in London.
The exhibition, titled “Axis Mundi,” opens on November 26 at the October Gallery and revolves around the tree as a mythological figure and symbolic axis of the world. However, in this verdant universe, human figures that seem to merge with the jungle emerge— nude or semi-nude bodies that blur the boundaries between human and nature.
“There is a perfect integration between human beings and the environment,” Trelles explained in an interview. “You don’t know where the forest ends and where they begin.”
“Hay una integración perfecta entre el ser humano y el entorno”, explicó Trelles en entrevista. “No sabes dónde termina el bosque y dónde comienzan ellos”.
It was precisely this fusion that led him to Caliban, a character historically interpreted as the savage “other” in the European gaze. The artist revisits the reading of the Cuban intellectual Roberto Fernández Retamar, who in his influential essay proposes seeing the world from the perspective of the colonized, not the colonizer, and uses this perspective to reimagine the symbolism of a figure traditionally associated with savagery and the subhuman. [. . .]
In contrast to Shakespeare’s vision, where the sorcerer Prospero embodies the European civilizing power, Trelles emphasizes a Caliban who is not inferior, but rather possesses a profound knowledge of his territory. “He was the one who held power on the island,” he stressed. “Without him, Prospero could not have survived.”
This interpretation resonates particularly strongly in the current context of tensions about migration and anti-immigrant rhetoric in Europe and the United States. Trelles alludes to a piece of graffiti he saw during his travels: “We are here because you were there.” For the artist, this phrase encapsulates a “reverse conquest” that brings renewed relevance to the conflict between the Global North and South.
The exhibition also engages with the figure of Ariel, the ethereal spirit who, in Shakespeare’s play, serves as the counterpart to Caliban. While Ariel represents the intellectual and the ethereal, Caliban embodies the instinctive and the earthly. “Throughout history, different authors have taken sides with one or the other,” Trelles explained, even recalling the interpretation of [Nicaraguan] poet Rubén Darío, who used Caliban to critique what he perceived as barbarism in the United States.
For the artist, these interpretations are proof of the enduring vitality of the classics. “Each generation makes them its own,” he affirmed. “That is where their permanence lies.” [. . .]
Excerpts translated by Ivette Romero. For full article (in Spanish) see https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/yo-soy-caliban-rafi-trelles-reinterpreta-a-shakespeare-desde-el-caribe-en-antesala-a-muestra-en-londres/?cache=5ug0p
Also see https://www.octobergallery.co.uk/
[Shown above: 1) Caliban I, 2025; 2) the artist, Rafael Trelles.]
In “’Yo soy Calibán’: Rafael Trelles reinterpreta a Shakespeare desde el Caribe en antesala a muestra en Londres” [“I am Caliban”: Rafael Trelles reinterprets Shakespeare from a Caribbean perspective in anticipation of his London exhibition] Víctor Ramos Rosado reviews a marvelous exhibition by Rafael Trelles, “Axis Mundi” (I saw it twice, loved it, and highly