Andrea O’Reilly Herrera
Curating cubanía Through the Lens of Visual Culture
Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 18 (2024), pp. 139-149

Abstract: This article focuses on a multimedia event titled Cuba Transnational, which took place during the fall of 2011 in various locations across Colorado’s Front Range. The implicit, overarching goals of Cuba Transnational were to introduce a public largely unfamiliar with the subject matter to Cuban diasporic cultural production outside the island, and simultaneously “preserve the nation’s artistic and cultural identity.” While Cuba Transnational confirmed the idea that a flourishing tradition of Cuban cultural expression was being produced outside the island, contrary to a counter narrative which suggested otherwise, ultimately the various exhibitions and corresponding events presented a mediated version or idea of Cuba to a foreign audience and thereby destabilized and disrupted the idea that one can fully capture cultural or historical reality and access or grasp another’s culture.

Keywords: Cuba, transnational, diaspora, cultural expression

DOI: 10.7311/PJAS.18/2024.10

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