Now booking museums, galleries, and cultural spaces ready to showcase this bold and unforgettable exhibit.
SEDUCTIVE • BOLD • UNFORGETTABLE
Brown Skin Showgirls: Leon Claxton’s Harlem in Havana (1930s–1960s) is a traveling exhibition celebrating the electrifying artistry, glamour, and cultural impact of the Black and Cuban performers who helped define Leon Claxton’s legendary Harlem in Havana Revue.
Spanning the 1930s through the 1960s, the wildly popular revue introduced audiences throughout the United States and Western Canada to a dazzling world of music, dance, and spectacle—while its performers confronted, resisted, and transcended the confines of the Jim Crow era.
Developed by Leslie Cunningham , this compact exhibition is designed for flexible installation in a variety of gallery and cultural spaces, providing a focused, immersive look at the performers who shaped the Harlem in Havana legacy. Read more.
The Brown Skin Showgirl Dolls
A signature feature of the exhibit is the Brown Skin Showgirl Dolls, a couture doll collection created by fashion artist and doll designer Traci Cunningham, founder of House of Bellaraci. Drawing from historic show photographs, Cunningham has reimagined performers as two exquisite 17-inch dolls adorned in newly designed, hand-drafted, and hand-beaded costumes inspired by the era’s original showgirl wardrobe. Read more.
We are actively seeking museum and cultural institution partners interested in hosting the Brown Skin Showgirls exhibit. Please email us at info@harleminhavana.com.
This exhibit is supported by:
• The New York School of Burlesque
• House of Bellaraci
Support the Legacy
Your support helps preserve and uplift this vital history. Together, we can ensure that these performers—once hidden in the shadows of segregated America—are honored, remembered, and celebrated for generations. Donate here.
HARLEM IN HAVANA 