Afro-Cuban Art: History and Memory

The Lowe Art Museum will host a panel discussion examining Afro-Cuban art and the role of artists, scholars, museums, and archives in documenting and presenting its history.

Dr. Michael J. Bustamante, Emilio Bacardí Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies and Director of Academic Programs at the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection, will moderate the conversation. Panelists include Dr. Alejandro de la Fuente of Harvard University, Dr. Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz of Indiana University Bloomington, and artist and University of Massachusetts Amherst professor Juana Valdés.

The discussion draws from the exhibitions “El Pasado Mío / My Own Past: Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art” and “Afrocubanismo: Highlights from the Ramón and Nercys Cernuda Collection,” both guest curated by de la Fuente.

Panelists will discuss more than two centuries of Afro-Cuban artistic production, including race, identity, historical memory, modernism, and artistic practice. The conversation will also examine how museums, archives, exhibitions, and academic research can recover overlooked histories and expand the study of Cuban art.