LEONOR ANTHONY, CUBAN-AMERICAN ARTIST WRITES THE FOREWARD FOR VANISHING CUBA

I am pleased and honored to announce that the very talented Leonor Anthony has written the Foreward to Vanishing Cuba.

It was always my hope that Leonor would accept my request to write the Foreward. I knew of Leonor’s work for several years and followed her on social media for about a year before introducing myself. After she said yes, I suggested flying down to Miami to meet and tell her my story. The rest is history.

Leonor Anthony is a multidisciplinary activist artist based in Miami, with a studio in the Wynwood Art District. Born in Cuba, she immigrated to the United States with her family as a young child. She is an accredited scholar, artist, photographer, and published author of the Sounds of Freedom. Leonor is world-renowned for her courageous use of materials and creating works that evoke controversial issues in today’s society. Her work has been exhibited worldwide on the biggest stages and in distinguished museums in the United States, France, and Italy.

Excerpts from Leonor’s Forward: 

“These images were not taken from the outside by an outsider, like when we look at exotic animals at the zoo or unusual fish in a tank. These images were taken by someone who, although not Cuban, captured all of us in every single shot; all of it—the struggle, sadness, color, passion, resilience, resolve, and ultimately, the power to adjust to the unimaginable.” 

“Although the Cuba that most of us know will probably vanish, I am a living example of that special quality that makes us Cuban, which can never disappear or be taken away. Our spirit is made up of our personal struggles and a mixture of all our common ancestors, the Siboney, the Europeans, and the Africans, that live on in every colorful cell in our bodies, for all time.”

“Thank you, Michael, for finally seeing us.”