Examining the Art Scene in Cuba from New York's Perspective:
A Discussion in Anticipation of the XLIX Congress of AICA International (Havana, October 10-14, 2016)
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
7 to 9:30pm
Followed by a Wine & Cheese Reception
Ángela Ramírez, No hay tal lugar (There is no such place), 2012. From the XIth Havana Biennial. Photo: Marek Bartelik. [Image Description: A photo of a street with only the left side visible, revealing a row of multi-colored buildings with doorways and windows that are both arched and rectangular. In the foreground of the photo is a sculpture that is held up by long black stilts that leans on the building to the left. The sculpture looks as if it is a room with no roof made of several opaque panels and wood.]
On Wednesday, April 27, AICA International, in collaboration with the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, hosted a discussion on the current state of the artistic scene in Cuba. Sara Reisman, Artistic Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, presented introductory remarks. The panelists include Holly Block, Executive Director of the Bronx Museum, Sean Kelly, owner of Sean Kelly Gallery in New York, Carole Rosenberg, President of the American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, and Juana Valdes, a Cuban-born multidisciplinary artist. The President of AICA International Marek Bartelik and the Co-Executive Editor of ARTnews Barbara MacAdam moderated.
Organized in anticipation of the XLIX Congress of AICA International (which took place in Havana between October 10 and October 14, 2016), the panel addressed issues related to the current state of art and art criticism in Cuba in the context of ongoing changes in that country, and considered its expanding cultural exchange with the United States and other countries. The AICA Congress gathered leading art critics from around the world and focused on the issues of Utopia and Memory, and their impact on Contemporary Art, both in Cuba and elsewhere. Marek Bartelik provided a preliminary program for the Congress during the evening.
The International Association of Art Critics (AICA) was officially established as an NGO affiliated with UNESCO in 1950. AICA comprises various experts committed to the development of international co-operation in the fields of artistic creation, the dissemination of ideas, and cultural development. Lately, the main objectives of AICA have been redefined to emphasize the global reach of the association, its crosscultural ambitions and its interdisciplinary approach. However, AICA’s main objectives remain unchanged: to promote art criticism as a discipline and contribute to its methodology, to protect the ethical and professional interests of its membership and defend their rights, and to contribute to mutual understanding of visual aesthetics across cultural boundaries. At present there are 63 member nations on five continents, plus an Open Section, representing more than 4,500 art critics.
For more information on AICA please visit: www.aicainternational.org and (for the US chapter of AICA): www.aicausa.org.