Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), HistoryMiami Museum, and WLRN are partnering on a special project to preserve and record the history of Cuban exiles living in South Florida, in connection with PAMM’s latest exhibition, “On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection.”
Inspired by HistoryMiami Museum’s “Miami Stories” program, the collaboration invites members of the Cuban exile community to share their personal memories and experiences at a series of upcoming PAMM Free Second Saturdays events. HistoryMiami and WLRN will be on site during the events with a recording booth, operated by an interviewer asking a series of questions, to capture voices from Miami’s Cuban exile community.
The recordings will become a permanent part of HistoryMiami’s ongoing program, “Miami Stories,” that allows current and former Miami-Dade County residents to share their unique Miami-related experiences, with the mission to collect, preserve, and disseminate these stories to illuminate the past and enlighten the future. The edited recordings will be made accessible at WLRN.org in 2018.
The project coincides with the second and third chapters of PAMM’s yearlong Cuban art exhibition, On the Horizon.
Chapter 2: Abstracting History, currently on view through Jan. 7, 2018, includes artists whose work explores the spiritual and political histories of Cuba, and examines past and contemporary realities within the context of Cuba and its diaspora.
Chapter 3: Domestic Anxieties opens Jan. 18, 2018, and presents artworks that reflect on the stresses and anxieties of everyday life, in addition to work that uses language and graphics to create spaces of aspiration, critique, and doubt.
“Museums should serve as arenas for advancing critical dialogue and discussion to promote inclusivity across our communities, backgrounds, and experiences,” said Franklin Sirmans, PAMM director.
“Through this ‘Miami Stories’ collaboration, in connection to On the Horizon, we hope to engage members of the community in sharing their uniquely personal experiences and reflections about Cuba,” Sirmans added.
“HistoryMiami Museum’s mission is to tell Miami stories. One of the ways we do that is through our ‘Miami Stories’ program. We look forward to supporting our colleagues who are partnering with us and supporting our mission by collecting the stories that make Miami, Miami,” said Jorge Zamanillo, HistoryMiami Museum director.
“As South Florida’s storyteller, WLRN is proud to partner with PAMM and HistoryMiami to hear the stories of Cuban exiles in South Florida,” said Tom Hudson, WLRN’s vice president of news. “These personal experiences are part of the fabric of our community. It is important to collect, save and share them. They represent our history, but also help us understand our future.”
“Miami Stories” at PAMM’s future Free Second Saturdays will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 11, Feb. 10 and Mar. 10.
PAMM opened the first chapter of “On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection,” an exhibition of over 170 works of art, spanning painting, drawing, photography, mixed-media, and sculpture on June 9. The exhibition is on view through Apr. 8, 2018 at PAMM.
On the Horizon celebrates the recent generous gift of Cuban artworks donated to the museum by Jorge M. Pérez in December 2016, and includes a significant number of recent acquisitions purchased during the last year with funds provided as part of Pérez’s donation.
For more information, visit www.pamm.org.
For more information about HistoryMiami Museum, call 305-375-1492 or visit historymiami.org. For more information on WLRN, visit www.WLRN.org.
