09/15/2026
At the closing of El Pasado Mío / My Own Past at the University of Miami, an important conversation considered how new scholarship is reshaping the way Cuban art is understood, particularly when the contributions of Afrodescendant artists and communities are placed at the center of the story.
Moderated by Dr. Michael J. Bustamante, the panel brought together Dr. Alejandro de la Fuente, Dr. Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz, and artist and professor Juana Valdés.
In this excerpt, Dr. Martínez-Ruiz speaks about some of the Foundations that have supported publications on African and Afro-diasporic visual and cultural traditions in recent years.
From my long view as someone involved in the Miami arts community for decades, there is another story unfolding here as well: Miami is moving beyond its historic role as a regional center for Cuban art and becoming an increasingly important international site for the scholarship, collections, exhibitions, and debates through which Cuban and Afro-Cuban art histories are being reconsidered.
These conversations are helping to fully define the history and scope of Cuban art.
