The Caribbean islands are environmentally vulnerable territories where the history of colonialism is a living legacy. A recently opened exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach confronts these issues in the works of 80 contemporary artists from 13 countries in the Caribbean and its diasporas. The exhibition comes at a time when hurricanes have devastated the region.

In this radio piece, Ampersand reporter Nazli Ghassemi attends the opening of “Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago,” where she talks to Tatiana Flores, the curator, and Nyugen Smith, one of the artists, about the themes addressed in the show.

The exhibition is one of many that works in dialogue with Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a Getty Foundation initiative that explores Southern California’s relationship to Latin America across more than 70 art institutions in the region.