My Own Past
Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art
Published on 18. September 2025
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-009-58646-7 (ISBN)
Description
In late eighteenth-century Havana, residents frequently referred to the existence of large communities of negros and pardos as 'officers in the trade of painter' and the authors of 'exquisite works.' But who are these artists, and where can we find their works? What sort of works did they produce? Where were they trained, and how did they master their crafts with such perfection? By centering the artistic production and social worlds of artists of African descent in Cuba since the colonial period, this revisionist history of Cuban art provides compelling answers to these questions. Carefully researched and cogently argued, the book explores the gendered racial biases that have informed the constitution of the Cuban art canon; exposes how the ideologues of the slave owning planter class institutionalized the association between 'fine arts' and key attributes of whiteness; and examines how this association continues to shape art historical narratives in Cuba.
Reviews / Votes
'My Own Past brings to light the contributions of artists of African descent in Cuba from the sixteenth century to the present. Thought-provoking and groundbreaking, this unprecedented book helps foster the emerging field of Afro-Latin American art.' Roberto Conduru, Endowed Distinguished Professor of Art History, Southern Methodist University 'Rigorously researched and comprehensive in scope, this book writes the history of Cuban art anew and will be an essential reference for years to come. It not only reconfigures the terms of dominant narratives on Cuban art; it also offers crucial methodological insights into the relationships between racial formations and art in Latin America.' Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, The University of Chicago, and co-editor of Slave Portraiture in the Atlantic World 'Alejandro de La Fuente and Cary Aileen Garcia Yero's ambitious work constitutes a monumental effort to understand Afro-Cuban contributions to Cuban art. This work explores the key questions of what constitutes Afro-Cuban art, why it is significant, and how it has developed over time. It challenges the traditional framing of people of African descent solely through the lenses of resistance, economic conditions, and racism. Instead, the book highlights Afro-Cuban individuals as active agents of change in the arts. It provides a roadmap linking their transformative impact to various African traditions and ideological needs.' Barbaro Martinez-Ruiz, Tanner-Opperman Chair of African Art History in Honor of Roy Sieber, Indiana UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 261 mm
Width: 187 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
964 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-58646-7 (9781009586467)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alejandro de la Fuente is the Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University. He is the author of four books, and his work on slavery, inequality, Afrodescendant mobilization, and art, have been published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German. Cary Aileen Garcia Yero is a scholar associate at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. Her writings on race, nation, and the arts appear in the Latin American Research Review and Studies in Latin America Popular Culture, among other publications. Her work has been recognized by the Latin American Studies Association, Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Content
Preface; Part I. Artists of African Descent and Cuban Art through the 1930s: 1. Their primorosas obras? Art and Whiteness in colonial Cuba; 2. Afrodescendant artists and citizenship: the twentieth century; 3. Conclusion to Part I; Part II. The Art of Afro-Cubans since the 1930s: Statements on the Social Condition and Cultural Heritage: 4. Reimagining Afrodescendant art from the Vanguardia and the Academy; 5. Against anti-Black racism; 6. Conclusion to Part II; Epilogue: the Afro-Latin American context; Afro-Cuban artists directory; Index.