Academic literature on the topic 'Arts cubains'

Salut Les Cubains, Agnès Varda’s short film released in 1963, deploys black-and-white photographs to capture Cuba at a moment of historical transition. Situating the film within the tradition of political films that use a similar formal device, this article explores how the tension between moving and still images in Salut Les Cubains honours a momentous present and an uncertain future.

Mariel – Revista de Literatura y Arte foi fundada em 1983, em Miami, por escritores cubanos exilados nos Estados Unidos durante o exílio massivo de Mariel (1980), e circulou até 1985 nos Estados Unidos, América Latina e Europa. O projeto editorial coletivo era oposicionista ao regime revolucionário cubano e declarava-se anticomunista, antitotalitário, defensor da democracia e das liberdades individuais, possuindo pujante caráter de denúncia. Em nosso estudo, analisamos como os intelectuais que colaboraram com a revista debateram a literatura, a homossexualidade e a identidade nacional. Nossa proposta central é compreender como o projeto editorial constituiu uma oposição política ao governo revolucionário cubano durante o exílio nos Estados Unidos, por meio de disputas pelas memórias da Revolução e da intelectualidade cubana. Dessa forma, investigamos a seção Confluencias da revista, que estabelecia um “contra-cânone” combativo da literatura cubana, com foco no escritor Virgilio Piñera.

AbstractThis article explores the impact of Afrocubanismo on the development of Cuba’s arts during the 1940s and 1950s. The article follows the discursive output of artists, intellectuals, and cultural policymakers of different racial backgrounds over the deployment of lo negro to construct cubanidad. It argues that, if the 1920s and 1930s experienced a movement towards the construction of a homogeneous mestizo Cuba, the following decades reveal an effort by some artists to desyncretize lo cubano. While some intellectuals constructed notions of authenticity that circumscribed black art to black artists, many white Cuban artists in turn embraced elite Hispanic heritage as their main creative language while valorizing some Afro-Cuban artists’ recreations of lo negro. The article also demonstrates that the scholarly debates about cultural appropriation in recent decades have a long history within the Afro-Cuban community. It shows how Afro-Cuban artists and intellectuals pioneered arguments about the exploitative use of lo negro to make national art and the central role of culture in shaping racial inequality.

Recensão da exposição “Affiches cubaines. Révolution et cinéma. 1959-2019”, comissionada por Amélie Gastaut, inaugurada em outubro de 2019 e em exibição até fevereiro de 2020 no Museu de Artes Decorativas de Paris. A mostra reúne um conjunto de cartazes cubanos revolucionários, recobrindo os sessenta anos da Revolução e do ICAIC.

El uso de adhesivos vegetales en diferentes procesos de conservación es una tradición entre los restauradores de papel de origen oriental y de otros países. Los adhesivos de almidón son derivados de raíces y semillas tales como maíz, papa, yuca, arroz y trigo. Los más utilizados en conservación son los de trigo y arroz. En este trabajo se valora la conveniencia del uso de almidón de arroz procedente de variedades de plantas cubanas para tratamientos de restauración de obras sobre papel. Se evaluó la flexibilidad, fuerza de adhesión y estabilidad en el tiempo en probetas elaboradas de papel tratado con almidón de arroz. Dos muestras de almidón purificado a partir de arroz cubano con porcentajes intermedios de amilosa fueron comparadas con muestras de adhesivos comerciales (almidón de trigo, arroz y metilcelulosa). El uso de almidones de arroz cubanos para la restauración del patrimonio documental permite sustituir la importación de adhesivos que resultan extremadamente caros.

This article examines how and why Cuban modern dancers and their scholars cite several white US dancers as forebearers in their nationalistic, anti-imperialistic, and anti-racist dance tradition. I use “contamination” to analyze this complicated topic, which threatens to unfairly center US dancers at Cubans’ expense or to romantically caricature Cubans defying US imperialism with a nationalist hybrid. Multidirectional, indeterminate contamination moves us away from narratives about US culture as a homogenizing force or a vanquished one. Contamination also importantly connotes stink, given that it is a product of imperialism and capitalism bringing far-flung people into close encounters. US contamination in Cuban modern dance histories, then, pushes attention to the shadowy reaches of the unseemly and incongruous—stylistic impurity, structural racism, historiographic neglect, revolutionary disaffection, and failure. Seeing the regrettable provides a fuller picture of the past, including the often-overlooked reality of shared damage and destructibility.

En este artículo se analiza la obra del artista cubano Carlos Enríquez, subrayando los elementos simbólicos y los aspectos más relevantes de su estilo pictórico y de su concepción del mundo. Lo preclaro y revolucionario de sus ideas artísticas nos permite vincularlas de manera crítica con problemáticas sociales del presente. Los documentos publicados en revistas indexadas sobre los artistas plásticos del llamado “arte de vanguardia” en la pintura cubana, han sido bastante pobres y limitados. En este sentido, explorar el universo de la obra de Carlos Enríquez, haciendo hincapié en los elementos eróticos y simbólicos que habitan en ella, puede contribuir a que los jóvenes cubanos se enriquezcan culturalmente, se empoderen con una visión cítrica de la realidad social en la que se desenvuelven y al mismo tiempo, recobren algo que al parecer se ha ido perdiendo con el hechizo de la globalización: la sensibilidad en la narrativa popular del erotismo y el amor por lo nacional.

Neste trabalho analisamos a história do Instituto Cubano del Arte e Indústria Cinematográficos, primeiro organismo cultural criado após a Revolução cubana, e seu papel na política cultural, entre 1959 e 1991. Por meio da análise de documentos da política cultural, da revista Cine Cubano, além de depoimentos, críticas e alguns filmes que repercutiram especialmente os dilemas e questionamentos dos intelectuais cubanos, abordamos as tensões entre a política cultural oficial, o ICAIC e os projetos dos cineastas. Esse Instituto, pelo qual circularam muitos cineastas latino-americanos e europeus, foi palco de debates, disputas políticas e diversas polêmicas envolvendo filmes e tendências estéticas, como o realismo socialista e a nouvelle vague. Nossa tese é de que o ICAIC, pode ser considerado uma instituição privilegiada no meio cultural cubano, pois consolidou uma autonomia relativa em relação aos mecanismos de controle governamentais, por meio da ação dos cineastas e da mediação da direção do Instituto. Esta autonomia foi abalada, em diversos momentos, em função de fatores como a reestruturação do Estado, os fracassos econômicos e o acirramento do autoritarismo em Cuba, principalmente a partir dos anos 70. Ainda assim, o Instituto se readaptou às demandas políticas governamentais num jogo político de adesão e resistência à política cultural oficial, que tornou possível a produção de vários filmes ambíguos e críticos ao regime, ao longo desse período.
This work analyzes the history of the Cuban Institute for Art and Film Production (ICAIC) ? the first cultural organization created after the Cuban Revolution ? and its role in cultural policy between 1959 and 1991. Through the analysis of documents on cultural policy, the magazine Cine Cubano, in addition to testimonies, critiques and a set of films specifically relevant to the issues and dilemmas of Cuban intellectuals, the thesis delves into the tensions between official cultural policy, the ICAIC, and film makers? projects. Various Latin American and European film makers were involved with the institute, and it served as a forum for debate, political discussions and varied polemics related to film and aesthetic tendencies, including Socialist Realism and New Wave. The thesis proposes that ICAIC constituted a privileged institution in the Cuban cultural environment because ? through the action of film makers and the mediation of the Institute?s leadership ? it attained relative autonomy with respect to mechanisms of government control. This autonomy was unsettled, at different points, by factors such as state restructuring, economic failure and the entrenchment of authoritarianism in Cuba, especially from the 1970s onward. Still, the institute adapted to the demands of government policy through a political dynamic that alternated adhesion and resistance to official cultural policy, making possible the production of various films that were ambiguous and critical of the regime during that period.

This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.
Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
History

[EN] TRADUCCIÓN AL INGLÉS I. SUMMARY This is a research project focused on the study of Cuban Art in Valencia. Is a didactic and chronological collection about the artistic work of Cuban plastic artists in the exhibition project in Valencia in the years ranging from 1993 to 2013, beginning the study for an approach to education and the promotion of fine arts in Cuba. The tour begins with a descriptive analysis of the teaching of art in Cuba, the period of 1975-1988, its premises, structure and phases, all portrayed through the prism target a full course of learning. The explanation for the structural design of the system is shown by analyzing each level of training, supervision by tests indicating test as the method of controlling the stages completed. Radiography system displays the definition of studies in stages, elementary, middle and senior level, each with four years of study and finally a year of dissertation. To continue making a detailed breakdown of promoting the arts in Cuba, from 1988 to 2003, the institutions of the CNAP (National Council of Plastic Arts), in its pyramidal structure in charge of the development and implementation of cultural policy for the Fine Arts in all the national territory. Cuban art in the exhibition project in Valencia from 1993-2013, describes a journey through the exhibition uniqueness of Cuban artists in the framework of the cultural program of Valencia. Over 150 performances in the visual arts are the best indication of a presence, which by its dynamism and plurality acts as a catalyst body of the foreign presence in the local reality, serving as a phenomenon of cultural hybridization. After analyzing the programming of more than 100 spaces dedicated to cultural promotion, reading dozens of curriculum, catalogs, interviews with artists and gallery owner's about the presence of Cuban Art in Valencia, a reality described is broken through statistics comprising the contrasting performances, number of exposures per year, the exhibition historical analysis by gender, number of exponents artists during this period and the inventory of printed studied the entire stage. The culmination of this journey through the Cuban Art in Valencia is a cultural project with artists living in Valencia as protagonists, thirteen artists with thirteen proposals within fourteen days, all within the framework of the international conference for the day of Cuban culture is proposed. Art, music, food, dance, performing arts, literature and crafts are combined in a modern setting such as the Cultural Center of Rambleta to offer two weeks where Valencia becomes the center of the Cuban culture in the community. Boomerang is an open space that will allow Valencia, share a few days with expressions of folklore and Cuban culture in general. This event culminates the efforts to show to the group of Cuban artists in Valencia as a socio-cultural phenomenon that takes these twenty years contributing in line with the Valencian society to make this country a better, more educated and more free.
[ES] I. RESUMEN Es este un proyecto investigador centrado en el estudio del Arte Cubano en Valencia. Constituye una recopilación didáctica y cronológica acerca del quehacer artístico de los creadores plásticos cubanos dentro del proyecto expositivo en Valencia en los años que comprenden desde 1993 al 2013, comenzando el estudio por un acercamiento a la enseñanza y la promoción de las Artes Plásticas en Cuba. El recorrido comienza con un análisis descriptivo de la enseñanza del arte en Cuba, del periodo de 1975 a 1988, sus premisas, estructura y fases, todo retratado desde el prisma objetivo de un ciclo completo de aprendizaje. La explicación del diseño estructural del sistema, se muestra analizando cada nivel de adiestramiento, indicando la supervisión mediante exámenes de comprobación como el método de fiscalizar las etapas superadas. La radiografía del sistema muestra la definición de estudios por etapas, nivel elemental, nivel medio y nivel superior, cada uno con cuatro años de estudios y finalmente un año de tesis. Para continuar haciendo un detallado desglose de la promoción de las bellas artes en Cuba, desde 1988 al 2003, las instituciones del C.N.A.P., (Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas), en su estructura piramidal que se encargaban del desarrollo y aplicación de la política cultural para las Bellas Artes en todo el territorio nacional. El Arte Cubano dentro del proyecto expositivo en Valencia desde 1993 a 2013, describe un recorrido a través de la singularidad expositiva de los creadores cubanos en el marco de la programación cultural de Valencia. Más de 150 actuaciones dentro de las artes visuales constituyen el mejor indicativo de una presencia, que por su dinamismo y pluralidad funciona como un ente catalizador de la presencia foránea en la realidad local, ejerciendo como un fenómeno de hibridación cultural. Tras el análisis de la programación de más de 100 espacios dedicados a la promoción cultural, de la lectura de decenas de currículum, catálogos, entrevistas con artistas y galeristas sobre la presencia del Arte Cubano en Valencia, se desglosa una realidad descrita a través de las estadísticas que comprenden las actuaciones contrastadas, número de exposiciones por año, análisis del histórico expositivo por géneros, cantidad de artistas exponentes durante este periodo, así como el inventario de los impresos de toda la etapa estudiada. Como colofón de este recorrido por el Arte Cubano en Valencia se propone un proyecto cultural con artistas residentes en Valencia como protagonistas, trece artistas con trece propuestas en catorce días, todo dentro del marco de las jornadas internacionales por el día de la cultura cubana. Plástica, música, gastronomía, danza, artes escénicas, literatura y artesanía se conjugan en un espacio moderno como es el Centro Cultural de La Rambleta, para ofrecer dos semanas donde Valencia se convierte en el centro de la cultura cubana en la comunidad. Boomerang es un espacio abierto que permitirá a los valencianos, compartir durante unos días con expresiones del folklore y la cultura cubana en general. Este evento culmina los esfuerzos para mostrar al colectivo de artistas cubanos en Valencia como un fenómeno socio-cultural que lleva estos veintiún años contribuyendo en sintonía con la sociedad valenciana para hacer de este territorio un mundo mejor, más culto y más libre.
[CAT] Traducción al valenciano: I. RESUM És este un projecte investigador centrat en l'estudi de l'Art Cubà a València. Constituïx una recopilació didàctica i cronològica sobre el quefer artístic dels creadors plàstics cubans dins del projecte expositiu a València en els anys que comprenen des del 1993 al 2013, començant l'estudi per un acostament a l'ensenyança i la promoció de les Arts Plàstiques a Cuba. El recorregut comença amb una anàlisi descriptiva de l'ensenyança de l'art a Cuba, del període de 1975 a 1988, les seues premisses, estructura i fases, tot retratat des del prisma objectiu d'un cicle complet d'aprenentatge. L'explicació del disseny estructural del sistema, es mostra analitzant cada nivell d'ensinistrament, indicant la supervisió per mitjà d'exàmens de comprovació com el mètode de fiscalitzar les etapes superades. La radiografia del sistema mostra la definició d'estudis per etapes, nivell elemental, nivell mitjà i nivell superior, cada un amb quatre anys d'estudis i finalment un any de tesi. Per a continuar fent un detallat desglossament de la promoció de les belles arts a Cuba, des del 1988 al 2003, les institucions del C.N.A.P., (Consell Nacional de les Arts Plàstiques), en la seua estructura piramidal que s'encarregaven del desplegament i aplicació de la política cultural per a les Belles Arts en tot el territori nacional. L'Art Cubà dins del projecte expositiu a València des del 1993 al 2013, descriu un recorregut a través de la singularitat expositiva dels creadors cubans en el marc de la programació cultural de València. Més de 150 actuacions dins de les arts visuals constituïxen el millor indicatiu d'una presència, que pel seu dinamisme i pluralitat funciona com un ens catalitzador de la presència forana en la realitat local, exercint com un fenomen d'hibridació cultural. Després de l'anàlisi de la programació de més de 100 espais dedicats a la promoció cultural, de la lectura de desenes de currículum, catàlegs, entrevistes amb artistes i galeristes sobre la presència de l'Art Cubà a València, es desglossa una realitat descrita a través de les estadístiques que comprenen les actuacions contrastades, nombre d'exposicions per any, anàlisi de l'històric expositiu per gèneres, quantitat d'artistes exponents durant este període, així com l'inventari dels impresos de tota l'etapa estudiada. Com a colofó d'este recorregut per l'Art Cubà a València es proposa un projecte cultural amb artistes residents a València com a protagonistes, tretze artistes amb tretze propostes en catorze dies, tot dins del marc de les jornades internacionals pel dia de la cultura cubana. Plàstica, música, gastronomia, dansa, arts escèniques, literatura i artesania es conjuguen en un espai modern com és el Centre Cultural de La Rambleta, per a oferir dos setmanes on València es convertix en el centre de la cultura cubana en la comunitat. Bumerang és un espai obert que permetrà als valencians, compartir durant uns dies amb expressions del folklore i la cultura cubana en general. Este esdeveniment culmina els esforços per a mostrar al col¿lectiu d'artistes cubans a València com un fenomen sociocultural que porta estos vint-i-un anys contribuint en sintonia amb la societat valenciana per a fer d'este territori un món millor, més culte i més lliure.
Duverger Charón, A. (2016). ARTE CUBANO. Papel del Arte Cubano dentro del Proyecto Expositivo en Valencia, (1993/2013) [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61486
TESIS

This study will assess five contemporary female artists to explore ways in which their art production can be meaningfully read in relation to their sense of being Cuban and what this might mean for them at this juncture in Cuba's history. The first three chapters introduce the artists - Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Marta Maria Perez, Belkis Ayon, Tania Bruguera and Sandra Ramos - and the unique Cuban visual arts spectrum post-1980, vis-a-vis movements, people, ideology, education and the impact of socialist influences. Key factors regarding Cuban identity will also be examined; gender, race, socio-cultural and religious practices, as these elements have been fundamental to the self-conscious identity constructions of these women through their art. As products of the revolutionary process, artists have delivered sophisticated avant-garde high art creations that embody the worldviews of the Cuban people. And, as professional artists, they are afforded specific ideological, ethical and social responsibilities and privileges within Cuban society. Their creative endeavours have become much-needed critical spaces to comment when other Cubans cannot and to consider issues of specific relevance to their country. Drawing on the resources of iconography and various semiotic devices, the following three chapters focus on these women's lives and artistic trajectories via the topics they address, such as myth, religion, displacement and the Cuban Diaspora. As a recurrent element in their work and one historically connected to the Cuban visual arts tradition and notions of identity, their portrayals of the female body will be read as sites for socio-cultural, personal and ideological discourse within the parameters of the contemporary socialist Cuban framework. Also, the nature of the plastic arts medium and the possibilities inherent in being a Cuban artist will be examined, and the other 'bodies' present in their work; the body of the audience and the body of the artwork.

L’analyse des centaines de références culturelles du roman (noms d’artistes et œuvres de toutes disciplines) montre que le paradigme de la « synthèse des arts » par l’écriture est en jeu dans tous les aspects narratifs : construction des personnages comme artistes, description théâtralisée ou métaphorisée du réel, figuration de l’histoire et du processus révolutionnaire. Les arts y sont maniés avec une maîtrise qui tient du « système », totalité très structurée, traversée de denses réseaux de signification à connexions multiples. En effet, la prolifération des références n’entame pas une extrême cohérence générale : c’est l’expression d’un rêve d’ « œuvre d’art totale », panorama des esthétiques du XXe siècle, et même d’ « œuvre totale » embrasant celle de Carpentier tout entière. La composante spirituelle du concept s’y retrouve dans la vénération pour l’art de deux narrateurs, Religion de l’Art qui place Carpentier, avec ses moyens littéraires, dans la droite lignée du « Gesamtkunstwerk » de Wagner.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008.
Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 30, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-136).

There is a longstanding historical and cultural relationship between Congo and Cuba via the slave trade and the ‘return’ of Cuban music to Africa, a relationship that has apparently been very scantily documented. It is acknowledged that Congolese roots are present in Cuban music but there is little musical analysis of the actual elements concerned. This thesis addresses this imbalance. Using a performance-as-research methodology, it charts the formation and experience of the fusion band Grupo Lokito. Through bringing Congolese and Latin musicians together in a performance situation, I explore the ways in which musicians from the two traditions recognise and assimilate each other’s groove. This dissertation investigates whether the historic connections enable contemporary musicians from both worlds to recognise similarities in each other’s music. Also included is a historical overview of the Congolese arrival on Cuba, how Congolese musical practices were preserved and assimilated into Cuban music as well as an overview of the evolution of twentieth-century Congolese music. Existing research has focused on issues such as the return of Cuban music to Congo (Topp Fargion 2004), the emergence of rumba Lingala in the 1950s and 1960s (Kazadi 1970; Stewart 2000), and the subsequent development in the 1970s and 1980s of Congolese music away from the Cuban era (Stewart 2000; Ewens 1994). However, this thesis argues that, rather than diverging from the 1970s onwards as is frequently thought, Congolese and Cuban music retained commonalities that can be recognised by musicians immersed in the two styles. An analysis of the musical structure and instrumentation of well-known Cuban and Congolese songs is included, as well as original compositions by Grupo Lokito, with further audio and video available on the separate CD and video. The accompanying CD Rom details the process of creation of material and outlines relevant musical structures.

La thèse étudie les représentations endogènes de l'identité cubaine à travers six œuvres filmiques adaptées de la littérature nationale : Cecilia de Humberto Solás, La Bella del Alhambra de Enrique Pineda Barnet, Los Sobrevivientes, Memorias del subdesarrollo et Fresa y chocolate de Tomás Gutiérrez Alea et Madagascar de Fernando Pérez. La partie "Introduction" expose le contexte historique, social et culturel de la Révolution cubaine et définit des notions telles que l'adaptation, l'identité, la nation et le nationalisme. Ensuite, l'étude s'organise en trois parties qui abordent les représentations filmiques et littéraires de Cuba dans le contexte prérévolutionnaire (I), au lendemain de la Révolution (II) et enfin à l'époque contemporaine (III). Nous nous interrogeons sur des aspects tant esthétiques (les rapports entre le cinéma et la littérature) qu'idéologiques (la relation entre l'art et l'Etat) et sur le rôle de l'artiste dans la construction des représentations collectives. Les écrivains et cinéastes cubains proposent au travers des œuvres étudiées un questionnement des modèles héroïques et des mythes, un renouvellement des stéréotypes ainsi que de nouvelles formes de cubanité
This thesis studies the endogenous representations of Cuban identity through six motion pictures adapted from the national literature : Cecilia by Humberto Solás, La Bella del Alhambra by Enrique Pineda Barnet, Los Sobrevivientes, Memorias del subdesarrollo and Fresa y chocolate by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, and Madagascar by Fernando Pérez. The first part sets out the historical, social and cultural context of the Cuban Revolution, and defines notions such as adaptation, identity, nation and nationalism. The study is then organized into three parts, dealing with the representations of Cuba in movies and literature in the pre-revolutionary context (I), after the Revolution (II) and in contemporary times (III). We tackle aesthetic issues (the movie-literature relationships), as well as ideological ones (the connection between art and State) ; we also wonder about the part played by the artist in the construction of collective representations. Through the works that we study, Cuban writers and directors have attempted to question the myths and heroic models, to renew the stereotypes and create new forms of Cubanity

This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.
Bachelors
Arts and Humanities
History

Volume editor Jorge Duany briefly reviews the intellectual history of Cuban thought on national identity since the late eighteenth century. Several generations of Cuban writers and artists on the island and abroad have drawn the contours of their “moveable nation,” according to different historical junctures, geographic locations, and ideological perspectives. Duany notes that the search for and affirmation of Cuba’s national identity strongly shaped the history of the visual arts, as well as literature, music, and other cultural expressions. The author then explains the origins of the current volume in an interdisciplinary 2017 conference on Cuban and Cuban-American art held at the Frost Art Museum of Florida International University in Miami. The second part of the introduction summarizes the contents of the volume, highlighting the significance of Cuban and Cuban-American art for the construction of national and diasporic identities.

Jorge Duany examines the shifting cultural ties between Cuba and the United States since 1959, and how they have reframed relations between Cubans on and off the island. Duany argues that the cultural politics of Miami’s Cuban community have changed substantially because of demographic and generational transitions over the last three decades. Until the 1980s, Cuban artists and other intellectuals in the United States had limited contact with their island counterparts. However, it is now customary for U.S. museums and galleries to collect and exhibit artworks produced in post-1959 Cuba without much protest or opposition from Cuban Americans. Although some exile artists and critics still believe that U.S. cultural institutions should not display such artworks, the fault lines between Cubans residing on the island and abroad seem more porous than in the past. The author concludes that the visual arts may serve as cultural bridges across the Florida Straits.

The chapter examines the scope and content of the first Cuban war for independence (the Ten Years' War, 1868–78). Attention is given to the implications of the shattering of white solidarities attending the insurrection, putting to rest the idea that a war between whites (i.e., between white Spaniards and white Cubans) would be the occasion for blacks to rise up against the white population—the long shadow of the Haitian revolution. The war revealed the capacities of white and black Cubans to join together against Spanish colonial rule in pursuit of a new nation. The same war, however, served to expose new tensions between Cubans—that is, Cubans who took up arms to fight for and those who took up arms to fight against Spanish rule. A war confined principally to the eastern third of the island eluded the mightiest of Spanish military efforts, resulting in a staggering loss of Spanish lives and the need to recruit Cubans to end the insurrection.

A fotografia cubana é hoje, referência internacional, conhecida tanto por sua contribuição cultural quanto histórica. Pode-se dizer que o processo revolucionário cubano teve na fotografia desenvolvida na década de 60 o melhor veículo de comunicação cultural com as massas, tanto nacional como internacionalmente, encontrando nela um fator determinante em sua legitimação sócio-política. O que o crítico cubano de fotografia, Juan Antonio Molina, tem denominado como: mitología dos grandes relatos. Basta dizer então que, a produção de cunho político-social-nacionalista realizada neste período, chega a um declínio no final da década, que a conduz paulatinamente ao desaparecimento.

The Cuban Revolution’s neglect of Havana (as part of a broader socialist project) simultaneously ruined and preserved its architectural and urban fabric. On one hand, Havana is crumbling, its fifty-plus year lack of maintenance inscribed on its cracked, decayed surfaces and the voids where buildings once stood; on the other, its formal urban fabric—its scale, dimensions, proportions, contrasts, continuities, solid/void relationships, rhythms, public spaces, and landscapes—remain intact. A free-market Cuba, while inevitable, leaves the city vulnerable to unsustainable urban development. And while many anticipate preservation, restoration, and urban development—particularly of Havana’s historic core (La Habana Vieja)—”business as usual” preservation practices resist rampant (read: neoliberal) development primarily through narrow strategies of exclusion (where, what, how, and why not to build), museumizing Havana as “a city frozen in time.”Seeking a third option at the intersection of this socialist/capitalist divide, this paper describes 4 student projects from THE CUBA STUDIO, a collaborative Integrative Urban Studio at Marywood University’s School of Architecture. Over the course of 16 weeks, students in THE CUBA STUDIO speculated urban futures for a post-revolutionary Havana–strategizing ways of preserving Havana’s architectural and urban fabric in the face of an emerging political and economic shift that is opening, albeit gradually, Cuba to global market forces. And rather than submitting to these forces, the work critically engages them toward socio-cultural ends. Some driving questions were: What kind of spatial politics do we deploy while retrofitting Havana? How will the social, political, and economic changes of an “open” Cuba affect Havana’s urban fabric? What role does preservation play? For that matter, what does preservation really mean and by what criteria are sites included in the preservation frame? What relationships are there (or could there be) between preservation, tourism, infrastructure, education, housing, and public space? In the process, students established systematic research agendas to reveal opportunities for integrated“soft” and “hard” interventions (i.e. siting and programing), constructing ecologies across a range of disciplinary territories including (but not limited to): architecture, urban design, historic preservation/ restoration, art, landscape urbanism, infrastructure,science + technology, economics, sustainability, urban policy, sociology, and cultural/political theory. An explicit goal of the studio was to expand and leverage“preservation” (as an idea, a discipline, and a practice) toward flexible and inclusive design strategies that frame precise architectural interventions at a range of temporal and geographic scales.

This paper presents a selection of 39 important works (paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and photographs) by recognized Caribbean artists from Barbados, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Suriname, and early Cuban masters such as Amelia Peláez, Juan José Sicre and Mario Carreño, in the collection of the OAS Art Museum of the Americas, on loan to the IDB Cultural Center for this exhibition.