Current Exhibits

All exhibits are free and open to the public during the same hours as the building in which they are housed, unless otherwise specified and with occasional exceptions for maintenance.

Smathers Library Gallery | September 15, 2023 – December 15, 2023

Diaspora Dishes: Remembering Home

Cookbooks are more than objects on kitchen shelves and counters that share instructions. The stories, recipes, and images can connect us to our communities and collective histories. At the same time, they reflect the paradoxes and conflicts of the people that produce them. The cookbooks in this exhibit contain unique stories about identity, homeland, migration, significant social changes, family, community, and love. They are treasures that help us fill our appetites, nourish our loved ones, and taste memories near and far. Curated by Katiana Bagué, Melissa Jerome, Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler &  Margarita Vargas-Betancourt.

Tostones with chopped garlic on a plate

Latin American and Caribbean Collection | August 10, 2023 – December 15, 2023

Yo misma fui mi ruta

This exhibit, inspired by Julia de Burgos’ poem “Yo misma fui mi ruta,” represents various aspects that have contributed to the construction of Puerto Rican women’s image. With images of everyday life, articles about forced sterilizations, and the struggles of Puerto Rican political leaders, this exhibit seeks to create meaningful conversations about Puerto Rican women’s fight against systematic oppression. Curated by Beatriz Domínguez Alemán under the guidance of Margarita Vargas-Betancourt.

Illustration of La Borinqueña with text that states "Somos todos Boricuas"

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COLLECTION | July 31 2023 – October 15, 2023

Ediciones Vigía

Ediciones Vigía, is an independent publishing house in Matanzas, Cuba. Unlike large publishing houses, Vigía only prints a few hundred of each title. Each
handmade book is a unique work of art. Like the Cuban notion of “making do” (resolviendo), it has been said that Vigía is to make art with what is available.

Like the Cuban notion of “making do”
(resolviendo), it has been said that Vigía is
to make art with what is available.

Albert H. Nahmad Panama Canal Gallery | April 21, 2023 – March 29, 2024

The Cutting Edge

As built, the Panama Canal is an extraordinary achievement that would have been impossible to create just a few decades earlier. Recent advancements and innovations in concrete, dredging, electricity, equipment, engines, dynamite, railroads, and many others, meant the difference between success and failure. Individuals and industries capitalized on these improvements and invented solutions to complete an awe-inspiring engineering project in a time frame that pushed the limits of possibility. Curated by Elizabeth Bemis.

Panama Canal workers using an unloader to move rock and dirt

Marston Science Library | July 12, 2023 – December 4, 2o23

What is Science Fiction?

With the world changing so rapidly and people’s imaginations growing along with it, science fiction is the perfect outlet for re-examining the past, experiencing the present through an augmented lens, and expressing future possibilities. Curated by Barrett Uhler, CJ Gott and Brad Curry.
 

A Star Trek illustration showing the character Spock battling with an alien serpent

MARSTON Science Library | April 27, 2023 – October 16, 2023

Advancing with Artifical Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a technology of the future. AI is already here and embedded in our daily lives whether we realize it or not. Just 20 years ago, our exposure to AI was limited to science fiction, but now it is a reality that impacts everything we do. Where will AI take us in the future? The possibilities seem endless. Curated by Jean Bossart.

An illustration from the cover of 2001: Space Odyssey featuring a spaceship flying out of a space station

Library West | January 26, 2023 – August 28, 2023

Afrofuturism: Creativity of the Black Mind

Afrofuturism has grown in popularity in recent years and is present in every sector of popular culture. The literary and artistic style reimagines the past or creates an enhanced present and future through an Afrocentric lens. Pioneered by Black authors, artists, and musicians, Afrofuturism manifests fantastical worlds that Black people have historically been excluded from. Often directed toward a Black audience, the genre establishes a sense of solidarity and inspiration. Curated by Antonette Jones.

A person wearing a spacesuit and helmet walking through a desert terrain.

Education Library | October 28, 2022 – July 24, 2023

Inspired by Alice

Whether or not you have read Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, you have probably encountered Wonderland and some of its inhabitants. Carroll’s fantastic setting and eccentric characters have inspired hundreds of retellings and adaptations, many of which have been aimed at young readers. From their earliest encounters with books, readers can grow up with multiple visions of Wonderland. Curated by Dr. Ramona Caponegro.

Alice from Alice in Wonderland standing near a flower