A story-eating bandit inspiring a literacy + public art movement.
Origin
“Bibliobandido, Story Eater” unfolds in semi-tropical, rural Honduras when in 2010, artist Marisa Morán Jahn and a group of youth from a low-literacy community invented the idea of a roving bandit who eats stories. To appease Bibliobandido’s insatiable appetite and avert general calamity, youth nourished him with stories they’ve written.
Captivated, Honduran youth since that time have enacted the legend of Bibliobandido on a seasonal and sometimes monthly basis, weaving an elaborate cosmology (arch-enemies, getaway vehicles, and corroborators) whose allure rivals Santa Claus, allegorizing the power of the imagination to transcend reality.
At the same time, Marisa brought the Bibliobandido legend to youth in North American libraries and museums.
All told, the Bibliobandido cosmology has transformed the lives of over 15,000 young believers, strengthening literacy across media and platforms from paper-based storycrafting, digital journalism, paper circuitry, and more.
Over a decade later, Marisa has teamed up with award-winning filmmaker Benjamin Murray to create a documentary film about the impact of this story-eating villain we all love to hate. Equal parts magic and journalism, this hallucinogenic documentary transports viewers into a space of wonder as youth, equipped with the power of imagination, triumph over their beloved, story-hungry villain. The team draws on using documentary footage Marisa took in 2012, new interviews featuring key individuals who have kept the legend alive, and surprises we can’t reveal just now.
Video created by Marisa Morán Jahn, 2012.
Events, Exhibitions, Publications
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June 9 - Aug 27, 2022: Bibliobandido Bites Brooklyn, Brooklyn Public Library (Central Branch, 10 Grand Army Plaza). Guest Curator Amy Rosenblum-Martín with Cora Fisher.
July 29, 2022: Keynote Speech, Connected Learning Summit
October 7, 2022-Jan 2023: Bibliobandido at Regina Public Library. Curator: Tomas Jonsson with Collaborating Curator Amy Rosenblum Martín.
2022: Filming, Production, and Editing for Bibliobandido: Story Eater documentary!
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2019: The Mighty & The Mythic, Stamps Gallery, University of Michigan. Srimoyee Mitra with guest curator Amy Rosenblum-Martín
2018: Bibliobandido, Story Eater, Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling. Guest curator: Amy Rosenblum-Martín and Lauren Kelley
2018: Peabody Essex Museum with Horizons for Homeless Children. Curator: Trevor Smith
2012: Caribbean: Crossroads of the World. Studio Museum in Harlem. Curatorial team led by curator and scholar Elvis Fuentes with Gerald Alexis, Rocio Aranda-Alvarado, Deborah Cullen, Hitomi Iwasaki, Naima J. Keith, Yolanda Wood Pujols, Lowery Stokes Sims, and Edward J. Sullivan
2012: Target Family Saturday. Pérez Art Museum Miami. Education Lead: Emily Mello.
2012: Bibliobandido Week. Queens Museum. Tania Bruguera and Tom Finkelpearl.
Additional selected screenings and workshops: Venice Biennale of Architecture Panel (2021), Centre for Canadian Architecture (2021), New York Historical Society (2019), MIT (2018), Mozilla and New York Public Library (2011), Zero One (2010).
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Design & Solidarity: Conversations on Collective Futures, edited by Rafi Segal and Marisa Morán Jahn, Columbia University Press, 2022
“How to Make a Living Legend: Bibliobandido as Literacy Movement Building,” Edutainment: Education Behind the Scenes. Eds Paul Falzone and Lauren Frank. Palgrave MacMillan, 2021
ArtForum: Interview with Marisa Morán Jahn, 2012
Caribbean: Art at the Crossroads of the World. Editor: Deborah Cullen, Elvis Fuentes, Yolanda Wood, and others. Yale University Press, 2012.
Exhibition at Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling, 2018.
Photo: Michael Palma-Mír
The video Marisa created in 2012, narrated by Danny , Denny , and Eduardo Pérez (age 9). Danny has been one of the key organizers leading Bibliobandido workshops since that time.
Team
Founding Artist, Initiator & Instigator
An artist, filmmaker, and educator of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Morán Jahn’s works redistribute power, “exemplifying the possibilities of art as social practice” (ArtForum). Codesigned with youth, new immigrants, and working families, Jahn’s artwork, civic media tools, and curricula have engaged millions through strategic partners including The American Museum of Natural History, Boys and Girls Club of America, Seattle Public Library, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, National Domestic Workers Alliance. Her work has been shown at Tribeca Film Festival, Obama’s White House, the United Nations, PBS, The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Brooklyn Museum, and the Venice Biennale of Architecture. She has taught at Teachers College at Columbia University, MIT (her alma mater), and Parsons/The New School where she is the Director of Integrated Design. She is a 2022 Sundance Fellow and 2022 Artist/Writer in Residence at the Brooklyn Public Library. @marisa_jahn
Film Co-Director, Co-Producer: Benjamin Murray
Advisors
Sunny Bates, Board Member, TED Talks; Co-Founder, Kickstarter
Denis Espinal, Executive Director, Un Mundo
Elly Goetz, Board Member, Un Mundo
Danny Pérez, Youth Leader & Bibliobandido Project Director, Un Mundo
Amy Rosenblum-Martín, Independent Curator (most recently Bronx Museum, MoMA PS1); Educator, Guggenheim Museum
Juan Rubio, Director, Adult Programs, Seattle Public Library
David Snyder, Media Consultant, Former Executive, Nickelodeon UK
Key Collaborators: Rachel McIntire, Adolfo López, Luca Lasdon
