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Migration is undoubtedly one of the oldest demographic variables. Human beings by their nature have been driven for various reasons to explore other territories. However, currently migration is generally caused by various factors not being quite right in the issuing country, and/or by the receiving country offering better opportunities. This article addresses one of the most controversial issues in Cuban society, the impact of emigrating. The idea is to address where and why Cubans emigrate as well as its socioeconomic implications, based on an interpretive paradigm grounded in the conceptualisation of what emigrating means in theory, and the causes of this socioeconomic phenomenon in Cuba. Although previous studies on Cuban migration have focused on the exodus to the United States, this is not the only destination, as Cubans have increasingly emigrated to various other countries as well in recent years. La migración constituye sin dudas una de las variables demográficas más antiguas, el ser humano por naturaleza se ha visto impulsado por diversos motivos a explorar otros territorios. Sin embargo, en la actualidad la migración puede ser sinónimo que ciertos factores no estén del todo bien en el país emisor, y/o que el receptor ofrezca mejores oportunidades. Este artículo aborda uno de los temas más polémicos de la sociedad cubana, el impacto de emigrar. La idea es abordar a dónde y por qué emigran los cubanos, así como sus implicaciones socioeconómicas, basado en el paradigma interpretativo desde la conceptualización de lo que emigrar en teoría significa y las causales de ese fenómeno socioeconómico en Cuba. Si bien los estudios precedentes sobre emigración cubana se centran en el éxodo hacia Estados Unidos, este no es el único destino, pues los cubanos han emigrado a diversos países en los últimos años. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the portrayal of the first Cuban war of independence against Spain (Ten Years' War, 1868–1878) in print media in both Spain (Barcelona) and in Cuba (Havana). The Spanish press portrayed official reports on the war as falsehood and denounced the exclusionary treatment of Cubans of African descent. The Havana print media, although careful to avoid direct references to participation in the war by former slaves, addressed the racial composition of the Cuban army in a series of images questioning revolutionary values. In their illustrations, both journals derided the aspiration of Cubans living in the United States, and in particular the political movement in favour of annexation. Through the use of the graphic images and short texts that appeared as captions or footers, these publications sought to construct and consolidate public opinion on the idea of independence (for and against) and to insert themselves in the larger discussion and vision for the end of colonialism in Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how contemporary Cuban American artists have experimented with visual languages of trauma to construct an intergenerational memory about the losses of exile and migration. It considers the work of artist Alberto Rey, and his layering of individual loss onto other, traumatic episodes in the history of the Cuban diaspora. In the series Las Balsas (The Rafts, 1995–99), Rey explores the impact of the balsero (rafter) crisis of 1994 by transforming objects left behind by Cuban rafters on their sometimes ill-fated journeys to the United States into commemorative relics. By playing on a memory of absence and the misplacement of objects found along the migration route of the Florida Straits, Rey's visual language transmits the memory of grief across time, space and generational divides. Rey's visual strategies are part of an “extended memory” tied to the aesthetics of disappearance and remembrance in contemporary Cuban American art. His use of objects as powerful memory texts that serve to bring fragmented autobiographical, family and intergenerational testimonies of loss together suggests how visual artists can provide us with more collective, participatory and redemptive models of memory work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses efforts by the Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta to connect artists from the U.S. and Cuba. Having emigrated to the U.S. in 1961, Mendieta returned to her homeland several times during the early 1980s where she led cultural tours for the Cuban Cultural Circle. The author comments on Mendieta's efforts to convince American artists to visit Cuba and connect with the local art community. During her trips, the artist herself became friends with many Cuban artists. It is noted that Mendieta advocated for the intercultural exchange of artists to run both ways. Mendieta's relationships with several American and Cuban artists are discussed including Carl Andre, Lucy Lippard, and José Bedia.

A discussion of the work of artist Maritza Molina is presented. Her childhood experiences of escaping Cuba with her family and the influence of music on her art are explored. Her photographic pieces Dreaming of a Composition #1 and Covered by Tradition are discussed, as well as other photographic, performance, and video pieces.

The article looks at the focus of consciousness of original culture found in Cuban-American art, specifically in the work of painter Ernesto Pujol. The author reports on the themes of the effect of the exodus on Cuban culture, the problem of the rise of the diaspora, and the rafter's tragedy found in Pujol's work as well as the work of other Cuban visual artists such as Tania Bruguera and Sandra Ramos.