In the middle of the dark blue canvas, which seemingly extends into a sea of infinite space, Díaz locates for us the forlorn expression of innocence on the face of the children huddled together within the confines of a paper raft. The immediate response to painting is to ask the following question: where have the children come from? What do they need? Are they hungry? How do we reach out to them? How can we rescue them from their seemingly endless journey? Can they be saved before their paper raft disintegrates?.

      The theme of Diaspora along with the social and politidal implications of each wandering in search of peace, reconciliation, and spiritual renewal is as long as our civilizations are old. This cyclical story is repeated in a multitude of folklores in each cuadrant of our planet earth the reason for these many Diaspora are many: hunger, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions or tidal waves and earthquakes, disease, aggressive invasions of property from ambitious potentates, or internal revolutions which seek to extirpate from the body politic the perceived evils and lists of injustices rampant in that society. In either case, the theme of Diaspora carries within the frustrating theme of varying types of exiles and loss of homeland . All Diaspora´s represent the basic human need and struggle to survive along the fear of annihilation. In The exhibition entitled, "Exiliadas voces" ("Voice in Exile6quot;), Raphael Díaz draws his artistic inspiration from the experience of the Cuba and converts that esperience into a universal pictorial reflection on the nature of all our wanderings both politidal and personal.

      In truth, the paper raft speaks allegorically of the friendship we all have with the universe as we set forth on our journey through time and space. Who are the children? As we linger to view the painting, we realize that the distinguishing characteristics of each face fold into one image. The children are different but they are in reality the same Child multiplied. As the song says, we are the children, sailing and drifting along through time and space, searching for the port that will provide us clues as to the reason for our endless journey. Perhaps, which in appearance is fragile is really sturdier than we know. The important thing is that, like the children, we are altogether with our many faces, not race, belonging to one race, the human race as was so eloquently stated by José Marti.