/ARTS WEEKLY/ CUBA: Biennial a Showcase for Critical Eye on Society

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Nov 24 2003 (IPS) - Flags from some 20 nations painted black, grey and white flutter in the wind over the colonial fort La Cabaña, where a critical vision of today’s world abounds at the central exhibition of the 8th Havana Arts Biennial, underway until Dec. 15.

A not-so-positive view of current times lurks behind most of the major works of art on show at La Cabaña and in the more than 100 parallel expositions at other venues throughout the city.

"Intolerancia", by Brazilian Sirón Franco, fills an entire gallery with hundreds of human-sized ragdolls, wearing pants, shirts and shoes, but without heads. They are piled on top of each other as if they were rubbish.

Canadian artist Richard Martel painted his lips an intense red, placed four glasses of water in a square around him and tried to throw balls – red, white and blue – into each. In the background a song plays over and over again, with the lyrics "God is American".

"If God is American (from the United States) and all powerful, and created the universe in his image, it is logical that the world is like it is: on the verge of the Apocalypse," commented journalist Andrés D. Abreu in the state-run newspaper ‘Granma’.

A reflection of society, but with a multiplicity of readings can also be found among the works by Cuban artists, with Cuban themes, in the six-week biennial that began Nov. 1.

"Autobiografía", a parallel show by Tania Brugueras at the National Museum of Fine Arts, includes a gallery painted completely white, with a rostrum, a microphone and sound equipment that emits revolutionary slogans with the sound distorted.

A double line of television sets in which the screens have been replaced by black bars is what artist Yoan Capote has on show.

The monument to Cuban independence hero and writer, José Martí, in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution, is endlessly repeated in dozens of photos in the project "Revolución Absoluta, 2003", by Nelson Ramírez and Liudmila Velasco.

The image appears in the middle of a field, surrounded by butterflies, in the background behind a couple of lovers, next to a famous actress, or alongside the patroness of Cuba, the Virgin of Copper, in a stormy sky or in a plaza flooded by the sea.

Meanwhile, Adrián Rumbaut encloses typical scenes of Cuban everyday life in cages made of iron, some in the shape of houses. Only one cage is open. It holds a photo of a boy wearing the uniform of the "pioneers", a government-run organisation of school-age children. The boy is saluting the Cuban flag.

It is a strong and well-produced piece of art, "as one can feel the sensation of being enclosed just by entering a room that is only half-lit," said Gustavo Ramírez, an expert in art history.

According to Ramírez, the Cuban presence in the biennial confirms a return to one of the predominant art trends of the late 1980s and early 1990s. "An art that is very open to social criticism, to debate," he said.

More than 100 artists from 48 countries are participating in this edition of the Havana Biennial. The inauguration was preceded by heated controversy about freedom of artistic expression on this socialist-run Caribbean island.

Debate was triggered by the decision of artists Alexander Apóstol of Venezuela and Priscila Moge of Costa Rica to pull out of the biennial, both citing disagreements with biennial organisers about written texts that were to be included in the presentation of their works.

As a result of what many perceived as censorship, several backers withdrew their support for the event, for a total estimated at 200,000 dollars. The Hivos aid agency and the Prince Claus Foundation, both of the Netherlands, and France’s AFAA pulled out of the art exhibition.

According to Rafael Acosta, president of the governmental National Council for the Plastic Arts, the 8th Havana Biennial has been staged with 156,000 dollars, funding from the Cuban state – much less than was originally budgeted.

The cutbacks meant the exclusion of artists who were to travel from distant countries, particularly from Asia and Africa.

Acosta says that the biennial, which first took place in 1984 as a space for artists from the developing South, "has become an alternative platform for many creators, whose works would otherwise not gain recognition in the art world."