Photographer Carlos Muñoz’s latest exhibit at HistoryMiami Museum is called "Belonging in Transit". It’s set in a migrant market in Miami’s Redlands, highlighting the lives of people who spend their days there with stories that mirror his own journey as a Venezuelan migrant.
Muñoz started the project in 2022 after visiting the market. He told WLRN that the textures, smells and environment reminded him of his childhood, when his grandmother would take him to local markets.
“ That, for me, was important because it's like a sense of home,” he said. “And when I saw this community … I saw the people, like a community, try to belonging to a place and remember the roots of their home.”
“And I think this is a treasure.”
Muñoz wants visitors to understand that spaces like markets in Redlands serve as a bridge for migrants. He said that moving to another country requires your entire life to change, and migrants struggle to find places where they can still connect to their roots while adapting to a new culture.
Muñoz says the spirit in the community has not changed — even amid the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to deport immigrants.
He’s heard many stories of sacrifice among immigrant market vendors who describe how they’ve gone years without seeing their children or their families.
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“When you question about your regret or you change anything in the past? No. Why? Uh, because in this moment, my son or my daughter and my grandchild have the opportunity, and these opportunities [they] never have in my country,” he said.
Natalia Crujeiras, the first Latina and first woman CEO of HistoryMiami Museum in its 85-year history, said the exhibit "Belonging in Transit" is more than just a photography documentary. It captures the experience of many of Miami’s residents, including Muñoz himself.
“ That process of leaving something behind … but also resilience and grit and hope for the future is what defines Miami,” she said. But it's this search of finding a place in this new home in Miami, of finding a connection and a purpose is, I think, something that is universal.”
Crujeiras is a migrant herself, coming to Miami from Mexico 25 years ago. She shares Muñoz’s same experience in the Redlands markets: finding a piece of home in the smells and music that feel familiar in a new land.
The exhibit is split into four chapters, with the last chapter changing the focus to the visitor. It ends with an interactive activity, inviting the audience to write a short letter for a child in their life.
The letter should detail the writer’s migrant experience, whether it’s moving to Miami from another state or leaving another country to live in South Florida.
“ This exhibition [is not] only for migrants to migrants, it's for everyone,” he said. “ And that, for me is very important because it's not only to show the migrant, [but] it's more like [to] make a bridge, make empathy … And that is, is very important for me.]
IF YOU GO
What: "Belonging in Transit" exhibit
When: On display until March 29
Where: HistoryMiami Museum, 101 W. Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130
Cost and more information can be found here
