Sept. 9, 2002                                                          
Information: (305) 237-7694
For Immediate Release                                 
Media Contact: Beverly Counts Rodrigues, (305) 237-3949
Rare Collection of Cuban Propaganda Posters at Miami-Dade Community College
An American president's head filled with dead Vietnamese. An American dollar bill as a razor.Uncle Sam's hand riddled with nails.
These powerful images are part of a rare collection of Cuban film and propaganda posters showing the Cuban government used art to shape people's thoughts about America. The exhibit is a joint effort between Miami-Dade Community College, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and New World School of the Arts.
Propaganda! Cuban Political and Film Posters opens Thursday, Sept. 19th at 6:30 p.m. There will be a panel discussion featuring famed Cuban poster designer Felix Beltran, M-DCC curator and design professor Maggy Cuesta and artist/collector José Rodriguez.   At 7:30, the exhibit officially opens with a street fair featuring Cuban cuisine and live music. The events will all take place at New World Gallery, located at 25 NE Second St., Building 5 of Miami-Dade Community College, Wolfson Campus.
The exhibit will be on display until Oct. 16 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For Americans, it promises to be an eye-opening, emotion-stirring presentation of Cuba and America, as seen through an enemy's eyes.
"This is an exceptional opportunity to see to what point a totalitarian government will go in its zeal ­even cultural expression, like the visual arts, is used to brainwash and control independent thought," said Dr. Eduardo J. Padron, president of Miami-Dade Community College. "This is a tragedy that repeats itself throughout history. More than four decades ago, unfortunately, it came to Cuba as it went to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia."
The 80 original silk-screen posters are part of a nationally touring exhibit that illustrates the role posters and political propaganda played in Cuban art and culture.
The works are on loan from the private collections of Cuesta, Esperanza de Varona, of the Cuban Heritage Foundation, Otto G. Richter Library, University of Miami and Irina and Jose Rodriguez.
The show has traveled to major U.S. cities this past year, including New York, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta. Miami is the final stop of the tour.
The exhibit's intent is to create awareness: awareness of the influence the poster has had on Cuban culture; awareness of the degree of censorship and suppression imposed in Cuba, and awareness of the omnipresence of anti-Americanism in Cuban propaganda.
Miami-Dade Community College is nationally recognized as the largest and one of the best community colleges in the country. It is the nation's top producer of associate of arts degrees. M-DCC's six campuses and numerous outreach centers offer more than 150 degree programs. It is Miami-Dade County's sixth largest employer with an estimated gross economic impact of about $800 million in the local economy every year.
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