Paper short abstract:

Since 1975, permanent exhibitions in the Museo de la Revolución have featured prominent photographic stories of a few revolutionary leaders. This paper contends that these images function as pivotal photographic microhistories and introduce broad socio-political ideas through intimate details.

Paper long abstract:

Founded by Revolutionary Government decrees in 1959, the Museo de la Revolución converted Cuba's former Presidential Palace into a home for new histories of the nation. Popular travel guides frequently describe that the exhibitions in the Havana-based Museo de la Revolución are "mostly photographs". Among the thousands of images displayed by the museum, permanent exhibitions feature prominent photographic stories of Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and Celia Sánchez Manduley. These four individuals are now so familiar that they are on a first-name basis for most audiences, Cuban and international. Photographs of these figures before, during and after the battles of the Sierra Maestra introduce characters that suggest a very acute familiarity. The well-worn material condition of the photographs in the display, evocative of personal ownership, as well as visual characterizations that present these individuals as regular people—featuring them smoking cigars, playing cards, making telephone calls—converts the nearly mythical narratives of these figures into accessible icons. Such historical presentations, often called microhistories by some scholars, introduce broad socio-political ideas through intimate details. Moreover, as the photographs do not depict gory battle scenes, the Museo de la Revolución converts this history into the philosophical battle which audiences continue to wage today.