The Cuba Collection
Curated by Claudia Miyar & Liz Dimmitt
The Cuban Collection is a body of works by artists from the Caribbean nation, working on the island and abroad. This project is one that we’ve been incubating for some years and with which we feel deep personal connections. We are both from Florida families with close ties to Cuba and communities with deep Cuban roots.
Cuba is a powerful force, evoking mixed sentiments of nostalgia, mystery, longing and hope. Its art often references these complicated emotions and the island’s tumultuous history. Common threads among the artists’ work include: influences from the Spanish colonial and Afro-Cuban heritages, references to isolation and political repression, deprivation and making do with very little, a reliance on the ingenuity and spirit of the Cuban people and romanticizing the past. These themes are often addressed with exacting subtlety, imbuing the work with meaning by the artists’ efforts to communicate their truth without alarming Cuba’s strict Communist government.
With The Cuban Collection we aim to reflect the current trends coming out of the island and give voice to artists in the diaspora, while also paying homage to our own Cuban connections.
Ernesto Oroza, Franklin Alvarez Fortun, Geandy Pavon, Ibrahim Miranda, Jose Iraola, Liset Castillo, Lydia Rubio, Pablo Cano, Armando Marino, Sandra Ramos, Aluan Arguelles