Illustrations

Entre Miami y La Habana/
Between Miami and Havana

Eduardo Aparicio

The portfolio of diptychs in this volume combines images of Cuba (mostly of Havana, taken during my first return visit, in February 1994), and images of the Miami area. The presentation aims to be neither binary nor hierarchical, but rather to invite the viewer to see them as multiple versions of a shared reality. The task of determining at a quick glance what side of the Strait of Florida each image was taken is challenged.

Instead of reinforcing contrasts, these diptychs point to the similarities in two realities that are generally considered opposites. These images question the currency of our national fetishes (the flag, the map of Cuba, the image of José Marti, the image of Che Guevara, the Cuban royal palm) at a time of a paradigmatic shift in the conceptualization of Cuban nationhood, while evidencing the erosion and deterioration of Cuban national iconography, both in Cuba and in Miami.

The first public exhibition of these diptychs was in September 1996, at the gallery Espacio Aglutinador in Havana, curated by Sandra Ceballos.