Luis Rincon Alba is an artist and scholar focused on the political and social potential of festive practices in the Caribbean and Latin America. His research explores the history of rebellion during the colonial period and how this history influences contemporary artistic practices. Currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art & Public Policy at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he is working on a book titled “Dance to the Hurt! Carnival Performance, Riots, and Festive Mutuality,” which connects Caribbean carnival history with riots pivotal to ending slavery and colonial rule. Rincón Alba's work reveals a genealogy between these intertwined histories, emphasizing carnival aesthetics as a source of collective political claims. He argues that carnival practice is a technology of unity that transforms modern understandings of communal practice through various mediums, including music, dance, literature, and performance art. His performance pieces and installations have been exhibited at notable venues like the Hannah Traore Gallery and the Clemente Center in NYC, with recent works such as Maraca (2022) and Chant Down (2023) examining percussive patterns and the transcendent qualities of voice.