On an Island So Many Have Left, They Have Stayed

By Olivier Côté and Jean-François Bouchard

Mr. Côté is a filmmaker. Mr. Bouchard is a visual artist whose photography book “The New Cubans” was published in 2024.

Cuba is experiencing one of the most severe crises since its revolution. Longstanding economic, social and political challenges, alongside the tightening of the United States’ decades-long embargo, have pushed the country to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.

Now Cuba faces an astonishing exodus. About 2.75 million people have left the country since 2020. Meanwhile, those still in Cuba must build their lives against a backdrop of crisis.

In 2022, we began meeting regularly with young artists in Havana to document their work. As trust between us deepened, they began to share how Cuba’s current wave of migration was reshaping their........

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