In an eagerly anticipated presentation in New York City, the director
of the 2009 and 2012 Bienal outlined the approach behind the upcoming
event. Director of Havana’s Centro Wifredo Lam and deputy director of
the Cuban Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, Jorge Fernández
Torres was in town for the opening of
Adjoining Islands: The Cuban Pavilion in Manhattan.
On view at the 8th Floor gallery through December 21, the exhibition
features works by the four Cuban artists who are currently participating
in the first-ever Cuban Pavilion at Venice.
Amid works by Alexandre Arrechea, Yoan Capote, Duvier del Dago, and
Eduardo Ponjuán, the conversation gradually turned to the upcoming
Bienal, and Fernández Torres was pleased to offer a quick preview. In
discussing the previously announced theme for the event, “Artistic
Practice and the Social Imaginary,” he said that the Bienal would offer
little in the way of painting or other traditional media. The focus, he
said, would be on people.
“Every day, the relationship between artistic production and the
spectator is being cut,” he explained. “Everyone talks about the death
of the museum, but they are increasingly present. Our intention is to
get out of the ‘cult’ places. That’s why it’s very important for us to
go to the street, with all the attention that’s generated by being in a
public space.”
The formal curatorial statement for the upcoming Bienal calls for it “to
work with live art and to permanently involve the observer. …to
transform the Cuban context and the public scenarios into a temporary
laboratory of art experimentation.” In person, Fernández Torres defines
it more succinctly: “What are our limits? We want to pull the cord and
see what happens.”
Fernández Torres sees tremendous vitality in the current Cuban art
scene, quoting critic Gerardo Mosquera’s line that “The artists in Cuba
are growing like weeds.” As always, the focus remains on young and
emerging artists. “I don’t want the Bienal to relinquish its primary
misison of bringing new talent,” Fernández Torres says. “Historically,
many people who came through the Bienal went on to become very well
known.”
But this year’s event includes a group that Fernández Torres describes
as “young artists who have already won their place in the Cuban arts
panorama”—among them Yoan Capote and José Ángel Vincench,
currently having his U.S. premiere exhibition in Miami.
On the international list are well-known younger artists such as Yang
Fudong (People’s Republic of China), Argentina-born Tomás Saraceno, and
Mexico’s Damien Ortega.
Older, established artists—from Cuba and elsewhere—are also part of the
lineup, including Cuban-born Jorge Pardo (“He’s very excited about
having a Cuban passport”), Russian-Americans Ilya & Emilia Kabakov,
and video artist Isaac Julien, representing Trinidad and Tobago. “I saw
his current show at the the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston,”
Fernández Torres added, “and it’s impressive.”
Perhaps the most interesting new development is the set of projects “in
the street,” intended to engage spectators in participatory
interactions. One such project is
Detras del muro (Behind the
Wall), a series of site-specific installations and interventions along
the Malecón, Havana’s oceanside promenade. Organized by the Cuban Arts
Project and curated by its director, Juan Delgado Calzadilla, and a team
of invited curators, the project is slated to run from La Punta to the
Torreón de San Lázaro, a distance of approximately six kilometers
(nearly four miles). More than two dozen artists will participate,
including Yoan Capote, Aimée García, Adonis Flores, Duvier del Dago,
Eduardo Ponjuán, Rachel Valdés, Roberto Fabelo, and William Pérez.
“Almost everyone wants to see the Malecón bustling with life, with
offerings and cultural attractions both at the shore and away from it,”
reads a project statement for
Behind the Wall. “The title is
relative, depending on the point of view: if you’re in the sea, it will
be the city that’s behind the wall, and if you’re in the city, the sea
becomes the backdrop. In any case, the works will be public
interventions that implicate both spaces, the city and the water. The
majority of the individual projects will be contemplative and playful in
character.” Proposed projects include Esterio Segura’s
Submarinos hechos en casa
(Homemade Submarines), which combines the styling of classic 1950s cars
with submarines out of Jules Verne, and Marianela Orozco’s
Camara de gritos (Shouting Room), a freestanding soundproof room specifically for the recording of yells, shouts, and exclamations.
Although he says the initial goal was a smaller, more manageable event,
Fernández Torres concedes that the 2012 Bienal is “going to be a
gigantic show. Every day I’m receiving 100, 200 emails. Well, that’s
it,” he says in conclusion, “everyone wants to come to Havana.”
The 11th Havana Bienal takes place May 11-June 11, 2012.
(From Cuban Art News)
