Cuban Diaspora Artists Address Migration Crisis Through Salvaged Boat Installation in Miami Exhibition
The exhibition 'Exile' by Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares is on display at Piero Atchugarry Gallery in Miami until May 2, 2026. It showcases a migrant boat, marked by bullet holes, which was salvaged from Key Biscayne in 2022. Wright highlights the difficulty of achieving empathy, while Coco Fusco discusses the dire situation in Cuba and the government's crackdown on dissent, referencing the arrests of artists such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in 2021, along with the recent case of TikTok creators Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez. Since 2021, over one million Cubans have fled, many in search of asylum in the U.S. The exhibition also features Wright's cyanotypes and Millares's 'Paint by Number' silkscreens, reflecting on the migrant experience amidst changing U.S. policies since 1959.
Key facts
- Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares's exhibition 'Exile' runs until 2 May 2026 at Piero Atchugarry Gallery in Miami
- The central sculpture is a salvaged migrant boat found on Key Biscayne in 2022, featuring bullet holes and markings like 'Mami'
- Coco Fusco's retrospectives at El Museo del Barrio and Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona addressed Cuban revolutionary realities
- Cuban government arrested 19 artists including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in 2021 and recently detained TikTok duo Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez
- Over one million Cubans have left the island since 2021, with many seeking asylum or humanitarian parole in the U.S.
- Artists Tania Bruguera, Tomás Sánchez, Reynier Leyva Novo, Amaury Pacheco, and Nestor Siré have not returned to Cuba for extended periods
- The exhibition includes Wright's cyanotypes under smashed glass and Millares's 'Paint by Number' series based on financial documents
- President Barack Obama ended the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy, affecting Cuban migrants' automatic residency in the U.S.
Entities
Artists
- Antonia Wright
- Ruben Millares
- Coco Fusco
- Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
- Ernesto Ricardo Medina
- Kamil Zayas Pérez
- Tania Bruguera
- Tomás Sánchez
- Reynier Leyva Novo
- Amaury Pacheco
- Nestor Siré
Institutions
- Piero Atchugarry Gallery
- El Museo del Barrio
- Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
- VEZA New Media Fund
- South SOUTH
- Niio
Locations
- Miami
- United States
- Key Biscayne
- Miami River
- Cuba
- New York
- Barcelona
- Spain
- Havana
- Europe