The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami is presenting two simultaneous exhibitions that together form the most comprehensive survey of Afro-Cuban art ever assembled. "El Pasado Mio/My Own Past," organized by Harvard's Afro-Latin American Research Institute, features over 81 works by 44 Cuban artists of African descent spanning two centuries, including nine paintings by Wifredo Lam and works by eleven female artists shown together for the first time. The companion exhibition, "Afrocubanismo: Highlights from the Ramón and Nercys Cernuda Collection," examines the cultural movement of the 1930s when artists began centering Cuba's African roots despite widespread societal suppression. The shows run through September 12 with free general admission.
This exhibition matters because it restores artists who were deliberately erased from the Cuban art historical record, bringing obscured figures like Pastor Argudin, Maria Ariza, and Tony Ximenez into dialogue with better-known names. By addressing the complex tensions of the Afrocubanismo movement—where some artists are seen as co-opting history while others genuinely reimagined Cuba through its African roots—the show offers a nuanced, corrective lens on a vital but marginalized artistic tradition. It also highlights the role of academic and museum partnerships in recovering underrepresented histories.