HistoryMiami Museum Presents ‘Avenues of Expression: Street Traditions in Miami’

HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is the premier cultural institution committed to gathering, organizing, preserving and celebrating Miami’s history as the unique crossroads of the Americas. HistoryMiami’s South Florida Folklife Center, a division committed to documenting, presenting, and supporting local traditional arts and culture, will be launching its exhibition Avenues of Expression: Street Traditions in Miami with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts. This one-of-a-kind exhibition will launch with an opening reception on Friday, March 16, 2018 from 6-9pm in conjunction with The New Tropic.

The exhibition will be on display to the public through Sunday, January 13, 2019. The new exhibition will allow visitors to discover the street traditions that are hiding in plain sight on Miami’s avenues, where the vibrant, raw pulse that fuels this city is felt the most and where Miami’s diverse communities converge and interact. It will also highlight the people who bring creativity and meaning to these practices, all of which help to give Miami its unique mix of characteristics and identities.

The exhibition explores the streets as public spaces for expression, highlighting traditions such as street art, protests, vehicle customizing, parades, ventanitas, religious practices, and much more. Through artifacts, video interviews, interactives, and recreated environments, the exhibition inspires visitors to get street smart and discover the world around them. The smell and taste of cafecitos. The shapes and colors of an eye-catching mural. The familiar face of the fruit vendor on your corner. All are experienced on Miami’s streets, where the vibrant, raw pulse that fuels this city is felt the most and where Miami’s diverse communities converge and interact.

Discover the street traditions that are hiding in plain sight on Miami’s avenues and the people who bring creativity and meaning to these practices, all of which help to give Miami its unique mix of characteristics and identities.

The opening reception will take place on the HistoryMiami Museum’s plaza, tucked within Downtown Miami’s skyscrapers and iconic courthouse. Guests will be treated to complimentary drinks provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and food will be available for guests to purchase from vendors. In addition to tunes spun by DJ Le Spam, guests will enjoy surprise performances throughout the night including Bahamas Junkanoo Revue of Miami.

HistoryMiami Museum would like to thank the National Endowment for the Arts for its support. Community members interested in attending the opening reception are encouraged to get tickets (free for museum members, $10 for non-members) by visiting historymiami.org