Art, Society and the Habana Biennial

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ntonio Martorell. VewayrVs Baleo
nstallation, 199-i, La Habana.
^Lotü: ElLa Capri.
Art, Society and the
Habana Biennial
BY NELSON HERRERA YSLA
In ihe coiitemporan' woiid lliere aren t
any fonims where the diverse
expressioiis of conlciuporary arl DI llio.sc
nalioiis coiisidered industrial powej's and
of ihose other nations, eupheniistically
referred lo as "in process of
development'' can ineel lace lo face. As
a rule when art vvorks and arlists from
bolh hemisplieres can mecí up. tlie
oufcoinc is a liiin'd versión of a
cojifrojitalion riíaf wouJd olJicrwise
transcend for irs quaíilv. íor iJie
¡)lura¡ity o/ xiewpoinls and liie searcJi oí
a /niiluaJJ\- beneficia! understanding all
round.
Tliere have been efforts in glol)al
exhibilions direcled to similar goals, like
Magicieiis de la Terre, tliat considered
works prodticed by a significant grou])
of arlisis flial live and work in iheir
countries oí' oi'igin or liave if not
emigrated lo 1:he tradilioiial centres oC
cultural power. LJnder no circuinslancc
has such a nieeting been alfempted with
those countries "in process of
development" coiisidering their
perspectives; that is to say, from within
their respective cultures, from the depth
of their ideological concepts that provide
not yet another versión of the "other
but open. deniocratic, plural, iiybi'id
thoughl, that genuinely relates to
interactious, a])propiations and
crossfertilizations that for centuries have
oceurred in the world of miiversal arl.
W'irJi ifs modest resources, tfie Habana
Biennkú tries lo bridgp that gap. When
in 1983 lite WH'redo í^ain Centre «as
íüunded in Cuba, lite idea of organizing
a systeinatic and broad encounter for the
most excellent cultural expres.sions of
Latin America dawned, aimed at
reachhtg greater understanding and
comniunicalion of the artislic-visual
phenomena being produced in lilis part
of the world. With this sjiirit the first
invitation for the Habajia Biennial to be
celebraled in May 1984 was sent, and it
established l'oiir jtrizes: Painling,
Elching, Di-awing and Pholography,
awarded by a jurv of prestigious
inembers.
More than 800 arlists from the insular
Caribbean and Central and South
America took part and ahno.st 2000 arl
works were exhibited. The Biennial,
from its beginning, attempted lo l)e not
merely another exhibition space, but one
of analysis, debate and creativity: this
was the reason for celebrating an
imernational conference on the work of
Wifredo Lam.
Tile positive experience of ihis initiaJ
Biennial. that enabled one to gauge its
considerable rallving power, meant that
we coiiid go beyond flie Latin American
Continent lo olher áreas that hislorically
have suffered and lived through similar
experierices in their political, historical,
economic and cultural flevelopnient: I
refer to África, Asia and the .Middie
East, wicl) are grouped under the tille of
the Third World. The similarily of
circuinstaiice aiid experience tended lo
make for a foi'ecast of discoursive
liomogeneity wilhiii a context of varied
visual expres.sion, such as can find in the
world of music. dance and archilecture.
v^-
Cf NISO AIIANIICO M SPIÍ MODiCNO
Áfiriiii irire loyx. Illid 1 laliaiia Biciiiiial (1')8*)). Pholo (ionncsv Ccülro Wifredo Liiiii. I .a I laliaiia.
Somchow these cultures and couiitries
conslitulcd a more or less coherent body
tliaí al llie Ijejíiniiiiig of (he 60's were
identil'ied as "nnii-alifíiied" riiunlries
despite tlie logical differences betweeii
inany of iheni. Wliat was or wasn' I
acliieved iii polilical leniis didn t mar
llie acliievenienl of a cerlaiii cullural
success l'or riiose counlries ihat liave
alwavs existed and liave traiiscended die
(•ii-ciims1aiil¡al considei-alions and the
vicissiludes oí geo-polilics. llie llábana
Biennial froni (he star( dccided (o
discnss and reflect iipon all siibjects
rejec(ed bv the inerhanisins of dominanl
power, all (bal lias been perverted.
despised or underrated and tha(
(•orres])onds to (he most au(hen(ic
conlenl o í a visual culdirc lliat lias
gained in iiUensitv., vitaliiv and sd-ength
d(n-ing the pas( decades.
In its second ediiion of 1')8() ihe
Biennial had fiflv seven coniKries
represented and accep(ed more than
2000 vvorks of all artistic disc¡|)lines.
Prizes were awarded (o ar(is(s of the
(liree main áreas, ahlioiigh during (he
exhibidon differences and eertain
¡ne(iiiali(ies inhereiK lo any coinpetitive
even( surfaced. ll was ihiis decided lo
slop handing oul |)rizes, and considering
the general interest for ihe 15ieimial in
many c(dtii(al scí-íors of different
countries, (o establish criteria
recognitioii and iiierit. The essential was
displaced (o the field of healdiv
compctition, towards dialogue. Tor (he
fi]'s( (¡me artists froni radieally differciK
backgrounds nie.t in I labana and (hey
diseovered, idioms and coinmon
stratcgies (hat astonished (heni. Art
critics, professors, theorlsts., miiseiim
directors the world over came to debate
ihe ar( of (he (íaribbean.
Both Biennials enabled the world to
know more than one (housand six
ise
hundred artists and to indícate some of
the principie tendencies that flourished
and developed within our cultures and
that remained isolated since lliey lacked
exhibition space, separated both from
their own contexts and from the rest of
the world. The Habana Biennial opened
the way for such recognition and such
communication and it left us, (all those
that had intervened in its organization),
with the agreable taste of scholarship
and investigation. What would we do
then in the future? How should we
prepare future encounters?
Until that time we had shown work by
Roberto Mata, Wifredo Lam, Jacobo
Borges, Francisco Toledo, Valente
Malangatana, Alirio Palacios, Mariano
Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo, Omar Rayo,
León Ferrari, Alejandro Otero, Raúl
Martínez, Nja Madoui, Hervé
Telémaque, Edgar Negret, Baya, as well
as examples of Nicaraguan Primitive
Art, contemporary painting from India,
Kuwait and a considerable number of
north amerícan artists who showed how
to fool the blockade imposed on Cuba
by the US.
All of thís, together with the great
exhibitions that assembled the
participating artists, was something that
by far exceeded our resources. However,
it only emphasized the whole adventure
and its fascínation.
When the Third Biennial was anounced
for 1989, we had decided to modify the
panoramic and somewhat crowdy
structure that the event had. The
journeys of our specialists to various
parts of the world enabled us to have a
clearer picture of that diversified visual
culture whose deep aim was the
expresión of transcendent cultural
valúes. We started to understand better
certain manifestations that could take on
the hegemonic tendencies of dominant
power centres, and how to escape the
market' s swan songs or how to subvert
the subtle manípulations of certain
"developed" cultural institutions.
We were able to discover manifestations
that until then weren' t considered
sufficiently "prestigious" to be exhibited
in museums, galleries or great
international events, and which weren' t
promoted in catalogues, magazines or
books.
The Habana Biennial became a non-discriminatory
and a non-hierachícal
space, an open space for the encounter
of artists and analysts of our art,
(whether they lived or not in our
regions).
The documentary investigations and the
travels that became more intense after
1986 revealed a notorious fact that
could perhaps define an essential quality
of the symbolic production of the Third
World: the tensions generated by living
tradition and the new language of
contemporary art; for thís reason,
thenceforth the Habana Bienníals would
advócate an integrating, organic project.
That became "'Tradition and
Contemporaneity" of the third Biennial.
At the same time we didn't only want to
emphasize the role of tradítíonal visual
arts but to encompass the whole of man'
s visual universe where the so-called
environmental arts occur: archítecture,
graphic and urban information.
The Third Habana Biennial divided
artists into four great groups based on
the interrelation of their work and so
individual or monographical exhibitions
were accordingly organized. We were
able to appreciate examples of
calligraphy in contemporary Arab art,
Latin American textiles, the Cuban
lithographic tradition, Mexican doUs,
African wire toys, the Cuban Humour
tradition, Mexican doUs, and individual
shows by Roberto Feleo, Víctor Teixeira,
Ahmed Nawar, Eduardo Ramírez
Villamizar, Sebastian Salgado and José
Tola among others; we also showed a
group of considerable young cuban
artists and especially students of the
Instituto Superior de Arte de la Habana.
More than fifty countries particípated,
about 400 artists and renown latín
amerícan architects such as Rogelio
Salmona, Fruto Vivas and Sergio
Magalhaes.
Debate centred on thís aspect of the
visual arts and the conditíons and
atmosphere of the Third World.
It is worth pointing out that from the
w
i
BaUraivs oj ivoud. \ ciu'ziii'la. lllid I hiliaiiii Bicimial (l')fi')). l'hoKi (iiiiirlcsy (4-111 ni Wil'rcdo l.aiii. i .a I laliaiia.
start the ciiraloi'ial seleetioii work ol llic
artists was a collective enlerprise
assuiiKMl h\ the specialisls of the
Wifn'clo Lam centre, llie iiisliluliiiii iii
cliarge of llie preparalioii and llie
organizalioii of ihe llábana Bicniíial. ll
is alwavs difficull to establisli (ivei-ali
responsihilities in tliis complex task,
despite the leading role that in recent
years certain personalities in ihe art
world llave played and to whoin were
entriisled ihe project of poleniical
activities. To selecl artists and works
lidni inoic than 100 countries would
re(|uiii' iniich inore lime than that
availahle between l?icnn¡als. if an\ one
person were given the whole task:
tlierefore we esteeni that ¡1 is more
rational. nnicii more scieiitiíic and
precise, to entrnst surh work to a team
of highlv trained specialists, that after
ten years of ex]jerience have ac(|iiired
notable profieiencv. In the
Snbinanagement of Research at the
Wifredo Laní Centre every specialist
concentrates 011 a group of conntries that
he systeniaticalJv sludies from all
possible angles: this gives him a series of
initial resuhs that are then confirmed or
rejeeted aiter more research or after
inspeclion diiring visits to these
countries. Tbcir dialogue wilh artists.
critics and personalities that visit us
dnring the Riennials enriches theii' ideas,
develops compatison and e\'entuallv
leads lo the collective disciission of ideas
in specific work sessions. "Fhis team, that
I am responsii)le for. has played an
im|)oi-tanl pai1 iiot only in the
pre]3aralor\ work of the Biennial but in
the museographic eoncejjt of all the
exliibilion space, in the compilation of
the general catalogue, as well as in the
pai'ticipation and organi/ation of the
critical and theoretical workshops. Each
specialist acts as a specific curator on a
proportional scale, (in bis own área of
investigaiion), and simuhaneously, takes
pai'l iii llip curalion and selt^clion at
global leve! loi' I lie Bieiiiiial.
Esseiilial as well is ihe fact ihat tlie
Haiíaiia Bicnnial is madp up hv basic
eleiueiUs: llie exliibilioii oí woi'ks. llie
crilical and tlieoi'etical \vorksli()])s. llial
are planiied b'oni (he ven starl ol' tiie
project and wliielí ai'e given a balanced
slnicture.
In the Tliiid Biennial we decided to
introduce í'urlher coinpiexilN inlo llie
event, as part of our searcli for
inforination and dei)ale. Ii\
progi'aiiiining disenssions and
encouiilers belween dÜferenl arl
iiiagaziiie edilors. direclors ofciilliiral
insliliilioiis. and llie parlicipaling artisls.
as a ineaiis ol diseovering iiew i'oads aiiil
(ields iii llial e.xlraordinarx' ¡iiiigle llial
has today becoine llie arl oí ihe Third
World.
lowards. The svnehrelie process of our
ciillnres is n \ e liinidred vears oíd. and
wilh logieal Nariaiits belween Aí'riea.
Asia and Latin America, has conlinued
to develop iiicor|)Oialing ollier elenienls.
An hvbridiu has emerged and il ¡sn l
easv eveii l'or ourseKcs. lo fiilh'
comprehend llie conteniporary
expressions (hat liave conseqnently
developed. Tlial has re))resented aiifl
represents a challenge: ihus llie ñame oí'
"The Dcfiancp ol' (lolonializalion tlial
we gave lo llic i'Ourlh I [abana Biennial
and wliicli gíilhered moi'e than Iwo
hnndred ai'lisls l'roni -tO countries.
We resolved, after a firm decisión, to
extend the research anil aiuiKlical
crileria l'or llie selection oí' arlists
parlicipaling in llie Habana Biennial
and we inxiled c]-ealors llial belong lo
elhiiic niinorilies in llie I SA. (lanada
and (Ireal Brilain. in order lo emphasize
ihe similarities belween those gronps
tlial llave snfl'ered alike degrees oí'
niarginalisni williin developed societies.
This opcning towards a "Tliird \\ iirld
in ihe FirsI World allowcd iis to
iindeslaiid snch great lopics as
margiiialisin, sell-inarginality,
migralion, appi'opiation and cnluiral
inlernnngling and ihe connections
belween arl aiifl its contextiial realilies.
The anahsis threN\- lighl on oiir Third
World. íor the spiridial and inalerial
condilions of llie habilal llial defines a
particular ciiltiire and ils arlists, can't
í'iilK ex|)la¡n evervlhiiig.
The processes of assimilalion, resislence
and deí'iance prodtice extremelv valuable
arl in iiiaiiv coiiniries and iii difl'erenl
wiirid r(>gioiis. bevond labels or
classil'icalion. Il is these ex|)ressions llial
we are iiileresled in suppoiMing al llie
For llie fouilh edil ion of 1')')!. on llie
eve of llie so-called f il'lli tleiUenurv oí
ihe "Discoverv ol' the New World " we
held a big débale on ihe meaiiing of llial
conli'oversial celebralion. \\ c didn 1 leí
lli(^ inílnence of llie circunislances
propelling llial exciil al'íccl iis, ñor were
we coneerned wilii beiiig Irendx. lallier
we wenl on lo debate ibis issue
passionaleK' becaiise il slill is crucial l'or
a better and deeper iindcrslaiiding of
our cnllures. Tlial iiieans. llial now
"encomiter ciirrenlly acls as a base and
|jlalforni for a deeper anabsis of whal
we are and of wliere we ai'e headiiis
Eiiri(|u(' Zaniiidiii ((Üiilc). Irislallaliiiii. I\ ili Ihihaiui Biennial ( I ' ) ' ' l ) . Pliiilo (IOUIICMN (á'iiU'o \\ ilrc-
<l(i Lani. I ,a I lahana.
Biennial to assemble a great concert of
voices that unite in singing a common
song.
In this fashion we broke cultural and
geographical liniitations formed vears
ago and we plunged into the complex
network of interculturalisni and
multiculturalism.
In the Foiirth Biennial there were
individual shows by Luiz Paulo
Baravelli, Eugenio Dittbom, Rachid
Koraichi, Zerihun Yugumeta; coUective
shows of Brazilian Applied Native Art,
Bogolan Painting from Mali, Chínese
Kites, Canadian Amerindians, and we
devoted a prominent seclion to our
contemporary Latin American architect
niasters: Luis Barragán, Walter
Betancourt, Joao Vilnova Artigas, Carlos
Raúl Villanueva, and we included young
groups of enthusiastic cuban architects
and specialised workshops.
The Dejtance of Colonialism was above
all a challenge for us. We reduced the
number of participating artists, nearly
200, but we gave each greater space so
that they were better represented.
Editors' and critics' meetings were
programmed and we had the exceptional
opportunity of receiving the members of
the International Council of Modem Art
Museuin Directors, whose annual
meeting took place in December of that
year in Habana.
To Luis Cammitzer, Ida Rodríguez
Prampolini, Adelaida de Juan, Desiderio
Navarro, Roberto Segre, Fernando
Salinas, Alberto Petrina, Humberto
Elias, Jorge Glusberg, Juan Acha,
Federico Moráis, Aracy Ainaral, Rita
Eder we added the ñames of Rashed
Araeen, Guy Brett, Greeta Kapur Pierre
Gaudivert, Eduardo Subirats, Shifra
Goldman, Pierre Restany, some of which
had been foUowing the Biennial since its
First edition.
That Biennial was certainly more plural
and diverse. The exchange with artists,
critics and prominent personalities gave
US the idea for the next Habana
Biennial, that would be held in May
1994, with the title oi Art, Society and
Thought.
Its contení is evident; it" s a critical and
analvtical outlook on the circumstances
that the artist lives or survives in. The
contradictory character reflected in the
radical polarity between North and
South is foUowed closely by artists
resident in the Third World and in
industrialized countries. Despite these
contradictions, that unleash violence
causing the death of dozens of people
daily, other artists keep their roots and
living traditions, which they express in
the contemporary idioms of art, (both
coming from the artisan world and the
refined world of technology), and who
don't waver in the effort to consolídate a
cultural identity that many believe
already defunct or diluted in the
pretended "global village" that the
centres of dominant power have mapped
out for US.
Our universal projection has never
implied disconnection from our roots
and history because in them lies a
wealth that false manoeuvres of Art
History have silenced or refused to
acknowledge. That is why we bring to
this Biennial a debate of the universal,
the regional and the local; of the part
played by art magazines and the media;
of the importance of public and prívate
coUectionism, that are all in the long run
an integral part of those difficult
circumstances that the artist has to Uve
in and express in our regions.
We will establish a worshop for debate
on the Biennial of Habana itself, its
achievements and its valué as a highway
to communication with the public,
Exhibitons will be divided into five great
áreas: The Social and Physical
Environment, Marginations, The
Migratory Phenomenom, Appropiations
and the Role of the Market in Art and
the global problems the individual faces
in a non central situation. For such
purposes we have invited about 200
artists and minority groups from the US,
Ganada, Great Britain and Australia. It
is worth indicating the presence of the
work of more than ten South African
artists, and from countries such as
Senegal, Reunión Island, and Thailand,
who will be showing in Cuba for the first
time.
lEl
s^sr*. mif^^^f
lOiiuís Essoii ((4il>ii). iMsialliiliDri. Illid I lüliaria Bii'iiiiial (1989). I'liülo t^ourlesy Cleiilni Wirrcdii [,am. La I lahaiKi
As file II'IKIÍIÍOII UCICS. llic Bicmiial will
lakc place Ni (liITcfcnl liuildiiiiís ¡ri llic
ohl (|Marl('r (il I laliaiia: al llic l'Orlalcza
de la (habana, llie (laslillii del Mojio.
Museo Nacional de Bellas Arles. Museo
de Arle (Colonial. \\ ilretlo Ijaiu (leiilre,
l'alacio de la Arlesanía, Casa Bolívar.
Casa Beiiilo .Juárez, (iasa (¡uavasaiiiiii,
CUisa de los Árabes aud luaiiv olliers,
wlucli conlers oii llie e\'eMl a inarked
urcliilecíural and urban cliaracler aud a
Miii(|ue chance lo admire soine of llie
ini|.)orlanl colonial buildings and s(|uares
llial liaxe led llie l'NKSCO lo proclaiin
olil 1 laliana •(aillural I lerilage of
Mankiiid '.
On lilis occasion arcliileclure won 1 be
incliided iii a s|)ec¡al e.xliibilion. ralliei'
llie iiniled laliii aniericaii arcliitecls
(Osear liiiberl. i'^dward Hojas. Bruno
Hlagno. Paolü Méndez da Rocha.
Teodoro (¡onzález. Carlos (Áinzález
IJOIIO. Luis Mores), will be iiilegraled iii
lile íive e.xhibilions as arlisis wliose work
lils inlo llie general llieorv of cach
seclion.
The Bieiinial is iiiidoiibledK a liviiig
organisiii llial Irausforuis ilself following
ihe slinnili of conleinporarv art s
evolulion. il isii I a Irozeu eiiliu. rigid.
iiifle.xible and de|iendeiil on greal iiaines
()]• firnis . On llie conlrarv. ihe Biennial
is a conslaiil challenge, aii insliliilion
llial can l'eel llie evolulion of oiir
¡irlisis íind arlislic forui iii ihe most open
aiid plural inanner. llial seeks lo
proniole eiicounler aud conrronlalion
ihroiigh ihe aclive parlieipaliou of all iís
gnesls.
Hencefoi'lh. llie Biennial will liave a new
face and il w ill c il on new elenients
llial we will ¡uchide in ihis liard and
long task ol (lelernuniíig wlial is besl
aboul ourselves and liow liesl wc can
siibuiil il lo ever\bod\ s
consideralion.