Navigating the Waves

Contemporary Cuban Photography

Exhibition: 29 Sep 2024 – 3 Aug 2025

Navigating the Waves
Lissette Solórzano, from the series Malecón, 2004, inkjet print, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, , the Madeleine P. Plonsker Collection, , gift of Madeleine and Harvey Plonsker. , © Lissette Solórzano

Navigating the Waves: Contemporary Cuban Photography traces the evolution of photography in Cuba from the 1960s to the 2010s.

The exhibition looks at contemporary Cuban photography from its role in promoting the Cuban Revolution after Fidel Castro’s 1959 overthrow of the Batista government to engaging in social and political critique following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. In subsequent years, Cuban photographers created powerful personal expressions by exploring individual identity, the body and spirit, Afro-Cuban heritage, and the margins of society, all while navigating the changing prescriptions and proscriptions of official cultural policy.

Showcasing 100 images, Navigating the Waves: Contemporary Cuban Photography celebrates the Museum's acquisition of some 300 photographs from Chicago-based collectors Madeleine and Harvey Plonsker.

Artists