HistoryMiami’s South Florida Folklife Center (SFFC) carried out the Guayabera Preservation Initiative to collect, preserve, and increase public knowledge of the Guayabera, a traditional piece of menswear that is popular in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative resulted in the exhibition, “The Guayabera: A Shirt’s Story” at HistoryMiami Museum from June 28, 2012 to January 13, 2012 and an online exhibition found at www.historymiami.org/guayabera. The initiative also resulted in the creation of a Guayabera textile collection housed in HistoryMiami Museum’s object collection. This project was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and Cubavera.
Michael Knoll created the project and was lead researcher and curator. Jorge Zamanillo was the project photographer and conducted interviews. Antolin Garcia Carbonell helped with historical research and fieldwork.
This collection consists of born digital materials. Please contact staff ahead of your visit to access these materials.
Audio:
Files include WAV recordings and selected transcripts of interviews with Jose Ayuso, Ramon Aviles Gongora, Raul Armando Maglioni Montanez, Ciro Bianchi, Emiliano Nelson Guerra, Manuel Echevarria Gomez, Marta Veronica Vega, Tomas Canul, Nancy Pelegrin, Ricardo Selman, Silvia Mayra Gomez Farinas, and Piedad Subirats. These interviews were recorded in Merida, Mexico and Cuba during research tips in 2012.
Images:
Files include TIF, XMP, NEF, and JPEG images taken in Mexico in January 2012 and Cuba in February 2012. Shots include street scenes, photos of interviewees, businesses (former and current), sketches, old photographs, advertisements, and documentation of the process of making a Guayabera.
Exhibition:
Folder includes exhibition photos and design files such as text panels and reader rails.
Grant Documents:
Files include documents submitted for the National Endowment for the Arts grant application and reporting documents.
Videos:
Files include AVI videos of a folk dance troupe performing in the main plaza in Merida, Mexico in January 2012.