Miami, FL- When Visions of the Caribbean opens on February 25, it will be the first time that the Historical Museum of Southern Florida will present its extensive collection of Caribbean maps, prints and photographs, dating from the 16th to the 20th century.
The exhibition will illustrate the many dimensions of Caribbean life from the 1500s to the 1900s, such as European exploration and colonization, African slavery, East Indian indentureship, plantation agriculture, government, rebellions and tourism. Visions of the Caribbean will provide the community with a unique opportunity to increase its understanding of the significance of this region to world history and to life in contemporary Miami.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring such a rare and extensive Caribbean collection to the community. South Florida is made up of residents and visitors from all over the world, but especially from the Caribbean, so, in essence, this exhibition is about the people of South Florida. Given the proximity of the Caribbean, it makes sense for our museum to collect the history of this region. Our collection has now reached a size to warrant a major exhibition,” said Robert McCammon, Historical Museum President/CEO.
The Historical Museum of Southern Florida developed this collection over several decades and has become a center for Caribbean studies. Visions of the Caribbean will showcase the museum’s original materials from the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and several other countries. On display will be antique maps, prints, photographs, books, postcards, newspaper articles, and even magazine ads and travel brochures. Along with depicting various facets of daily life, the material vividly illustrates the beginnings of the tourist boom in the Caribbean islands.
“Most of the illustrations were created by Europeans and North Americans and, thus, reveal how outside artists, authors, publishers and their readers visualized the geography, natural environment and peoples of the Caribbean over the course of several centuries,” said Dr. Steve Stuempfle, Historical Museum Chief Curator. The museum will also ask exhibition visitors to offer their own visions of the Caribbean. In an interactive education gallery, visitors will be supplied with materials to create and display their own Caribbean maps and pictures.
Visions of the Caribbean will also offer free entertainment and programming on Thursday evenings, beginning March 3 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the museum. These events will have a Caribbean theme. The entire community is invited to participate and enjoy free Caribbean films, live music, lectures and spoken word performances. Visions of the Caribbean is sponsored in part by Pomtoc; Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLP; Bacardi; Attorney’s Real Estate Council of Miami-Dade County. The exhibition will run through June 5, 2005.
Also on display through June 5, 2005, will be Calypso Music in Postwar America: Photographs and Illustrations, 1945-1960, an exhibition detailing the rich history of Trinidadian calypso music and its impact on the popular culture of the United States. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this exciting and rare exhibition includes a mix of photographs, sheet music, songbooks, record album covers, movie posters, and many other original items.
