Participate:

Exiles wishing to participate are asked to write  letters  with their name and date of departure and the answer to two broad, open-ended questions:

1.       What did you leave (in Cuba)?
2.       What did you find when you arrived?

(see mailing directions below)

The letters will then be sorted by year and placed in the piece of luggage corresponding to the year of the letter’s author departure from Cuba; each of the 45 pieces of luggage will be numbered sequentially from 1959 to 2004. 

 (A 46^th piece of luggage will be set aside for letters of support/letters about freedom from people who didn’t necessarily leave Cuba, but have a strong connection with those who did).

Each of the 45 pieces of luggage will be arranged chronologically on pedestals circling the painted airplane.  Those attending the event will be invited to walk up to each piece of luggage and pick up the letters and read them.  It may be overwhelming for some to see so many letters detailing the struggle of a people starting anew, the sacrifice of families separated by the regime, the baggage that haunts them to the day.  But in every way, it will also make a strong case as to why those people had no choice but to get on that plane—or on a raft—and journey towards freedom.

 

Letters can be sent electronically by visiting:

http://www.celebralibertad.com

 

Handwritten, one-page letters should be mailed to:

Leeds Colby Paris Spence
Hoffman & Valori P.A.
2950 SW 27 Avenue
Suite 300
Miami, FL 33133

attn: Xavier Cortada's Art Installation