The Cuban artist René Francisco Rodríguez organized "Love Me as I Am. Ibero-America in the Key of Art," a collective exhibition that brings together 26 Ibero-American creators at the Casa de América in Madrid, where it will remain open until January 16, 2027.
The exhibition, curated by Rodríguez, was presented on Tuesday by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, during the XXX Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, which commemorates the 35th anniversary of the first Summit held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1991.
The title borrows its name from one of the most famous songs of the Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés, a foundational figure of the Nueva Trova, who passed away in Madrid on November 22, 2022.
"Love Me as I Am" was the central theme of the Cuban film A Bride for David (1985), performed by Elena Burke, and accompanied Milanés until his final concerts.
The initiative is organized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and Casa de América, and includes painting, photography, installation, and other artistic expressions from creators who live and work in Spain.
The curatorial text, signed by René Francisco Rodríguez, presents identity as an open question: "Where do we come from when we are no longer there? How many homes fit inside us? How many will we build?"
The commissioner describes the Casa de América as "a place of transit, an intermediate station, one of those corners where identities are accentuated and continue to shift."
And it concludes with a commitment to diversity as a meeting point: "Perhaps that is what art is for: to discover that we can also be others while still being ourselves."
Rodríguez was born in Holguín in 1960, studied at the National School of Art in Havana and at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), and has had an active studio in Madrid since 2022.
After the official presentation, a discussion was held on the role of culture as a space for Ibero-American dialogue, featuring the participation of Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler and Portuguese actress Sofia Alves.
The exhibition can be visited from Monday to Friday from 11:00 AM to 7:30 PM and on Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with free admission, at Marqués del Duero street, number two, in Madrid.
The connection between Milanés' song and the Cuban diaspora has additional layers: in May 2020, the group Orishas released a song of the same name that incorporated part of the original refrain with the participation of the singer-songwriter himself, turning the piece into a symbol of the pain and nostalgia of Cubans abroad.
The exhibition will remain open to the public until January 16, 2027, making it the most significant institutional curatorial project of René Francisco Rodríguez in Spain.
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