MIAMI RIVER ART FAIR 2018 CATALOG COVER

Photography: eduardochacon.com

The Historic Miami River

T

he Miami River is a singularly wondrous place. It is where all of the waters of an ancient geography come together. The Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean here at Biscayne Bay, where the great tributary of the massive river of grass extending down the Florida peninsula —also known as the Everglades—flows into the Bay. This is the place where an original civilization a cultural community that once ruled the Caribbean Sea from a two thousand year old river-head at Miami cultivated the arts. The Tequesta Indians ruled the Carib nations from the mouth of what today is known as the Miami River (their word for sweet water) and where the original City of Miami was founded. The

tribe, long extinct, left its footprint at what is today known as the Miami Circle, where the River meets the Bay. Today, that circle of waters joining together is the birthplace of modern-day Miami. The Miami River is rejoining its past as a new cultural epicenter of the arts. This City, now at the hemispheric center of the continents of North and South America, is the center of a new 21st Century art hub of the Americas.

Now, for the fifth edition, the cradle of Miami’s will host its landmark event during the winter art fair season.

By Ernest Martin