By Jennifer McGinnis. Tribune-Review, April 3, 2000
Like many Americans, Rochelle Sufrin didn't know much about Cuban culture until little Elian Gonzalez was found Thanksgiving Day, clinging to an innertube in the waters off the Florida coast.
On Sunday, Sufrin unveiled the Cuba 2000 Exposition at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The display features artwork by young Cubans, recent photos from Cuba, musical instruments, cigars and other culturally significant objects.
"Having Elian come in November opened up the floodgates of information not just for me but the entire audience we are trying to inform," said Sufrin, who coordinated the event.
Organizers planned the exhibit to help people learn that Cuba is not just a communist state where poverty is a problem, but a country where religion and education are valued and more than 90 percent of the population is literate.
Stanley Cohen, international chairman of the B'nai B'rith Cuban Jewish Relief Project, has visited Cuba 14 times on humanitarian missions and has taken 1,000 photographs there.
Cohen selected 95 photos for the exhibit to show people a "cross section" of Cuban life and publicize the charitable work B'nai B'rith has done in collaboration with other charities.
Over four years, B'nai B'rith has shipped $2 million in medical supplies and nutritional supplements to Cuba.
Pictures of an elderly Cuban woman dancing in the street for money and another clad in shoes that had broken in half show the poverty that plagues many areas of Cuba.
Depictions of glittering dance extravaganzas in Cuba's most famous night clubs are juxtaposed with a photo of a ramshackle hut where a family of six shares one bedroom.
In one photo a boy practices a violin he was given by humanitarians. In another, a group of school girls clad in matching pink jumpers grin and hug each other.
"We had to show people we are not only dealing with the extreme desperate suffering of people because of food shortages, but (Cubans) have a wonderful culture and an illiteracy rate that's the lowest in the Western hemisphere," Cohen said.
At one end of the gallery, a poster Cohen found in the street is framed. It bears an out-of-focus photograph of a little boy scratching his chin with a Spanish phrase calling for freedom for Elian written underneath.
The boy - whose mother and stepfather perished in the ill-fated attempt to reach America - is being fought over by his Cuban father and his Florida relatives, with whom he has been living since he was rescued.
Cohen said the political tussle over Elian has heightened awareness of the need for humanitarian aid in Cuba and the need for Jews here to help the growing Jewish community there.
Cohen said the Brother's Brother Foundation has agreed to donate $100,000 in supplies to the Cuban Jewish Relief Project. He hopes the exhibit will sway others to back the project.
"The ultimate humanitarian effort is to show people what can be done," Cohen said.
A Cuba 2000 reception featuring ethnic music and food will be from 8 to 10 p.m. April 15. Salsa dancing lessons will be offered from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. April 24.
The exposition runs through May 31. For ticket information or a schedule of Cuban movies and documentaries that will be presented at the exhibit, call (412) 804-9333.
© 2000 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. |