“Why Freedom Matters” is the tagline of a new permanent exhibit at the American Museum of The Cuban Diaspora. It immerses visitors in the history of Cuba’s revolution, telling the stories of Cuban exiles as well as those who lost their lives fighting Fidel Castro’s regime.
“It’s the story of how a country can go from being a prosperous democracy into an impoverished dictatorship in just one generation,” Marcell Felipe, the chairman of the museum, told WLRN.
“The Cuban Experience” simulates the historical period with interactive sections that include hundreds of artifacts, photos, videos, as well as experiences like a walk through a recreated prison cell like those where anti-Castro rebels were detained and a simulated execution wall similar to the space where televised mass executions in Cuba would take place.
Felipe, who developed the concept of the exhibit, said this project was one that had been on his mind since he was a student at Florida International University where he worked with former Cuban political prisoners at La Casa del Preso in Miami.
A timeline at “The Cuban Experience” exhibit shows how the island’s society drastically changed in the span of three years between 1959 and 1962.
He said hearing their spiritual stories and about the tortures that they endured because they wouldn’t renounce their beliefs, made him realize they were heroes who often went ignored.
“In Cuba they are talked about as criminals, as bandits,” Felipe said. “[Exiles] have lived a life of discrimination for most of their life. And, I think this museum is an act of justice… for not only those who were executed, imprisoned and their families, but also Cubans that came to the U.S. with the intention of a temporary exile.”
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The museum put the exhibit together with the input of historians and using direct source materials and eyewitness testimony. In addition, the exhibit features interviews from the Emmy Award-winning docudrama series Leyendas del Exilio — orLegends of the Exile — directed by Lilo Vilaplana.
Felipe said this new exhibit that will live permanently in the museum also marks a new chapter for the non-profit organization, which until now has primarily featured art.
“The Cuban Exerience” at the American Museum of The Cuban Diaspora has a recreation of an execution wall where televised mass executions would take place in Cuba.
“In many ways, it’s a rebirth of an institution that was pre-existing,” he said. “From being close to the [Cuban exile] community and talking to everyone, this is what was needed. Everybody’s story in our community is told in that exhibit. Whether you were one of the first ones, or whether you’re one of the last ones to come from Cuba.”
The museum was originally founded in 1996 with the name the “Cuban Museum.” It had a rebranding with its new name in 2016.
IF YOU GO
What: The Cuban Experience
Where: The American Museum of Cuban Diaspora, 1200 Coral Way Miami, FL 33145 open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
When: Permanent exhibit at the museum. Admission is free through December.
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Publish date : 2024-12-19 07:53:00
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