Afro-Cuban Legacies in Columbia, Missouri

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in the United States, is currently celebrating Afro-Cuban Legacies: visual arts, literature, theater, music, and religion, coordinated by the distinguished professor Juanamaría Cordones-Cook.

The aim of this major event, from April 10th to 12th, is to explore the experiences of Afro-Cuban culture since the 1960s. Its agenda includes academic presentations, artist roundtables, visual arts exhibitions, live performances, and documentary screenings.

The lineup features speeches by cultural historian specializing in the African diaspora in the Caribbean and the Americas, Ivor Miller; prominent professor from the University of Washington in St. Louis, Elzbieta Sklodowska; and renowned editor of the Afro-Hispanic Reviews magazine, William Luis.

Several Cuban cultural figures grace this stage: the poet and essayist, National Literature Prize winner, Nancy Morejón; percussionist Román Díaz, pianist Arturo O’Farrill and his quintet; actress Monse Duany, and visual artists Juan Roberto Diago and René Peña.

Distinguished curator and professor at the University of Missouri, Juanamaría Cordones-Cook, has been studying Hispanic-American literature, culture, and the arts of the African diaspora. In her role as a documentarian, she has produced nearly 40 audiovisual materials on Cuban artists and intellectuals, some of which are showcased in Afro-Cuban Legacies.

The integration of these expressions serves as a bridge to establish academic connections between the bustling university scene in the city of Columbia and an integral part of that grand tree known as Cuban culture.

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez