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This article attends to the objects drifting in the wake of Cuban sea migrations and to the figure of the raft collector who attempts to preserve them. I examine the abject and “makeshift” aesthetics of the raft itself and the public exhibitions during the 1990s that revealed their fraught status as found art objects, maritime refuse, and relics of the dead. From there, I explore connections between the presentation of the rafts in art exhibitions and their re-presentation in literary work by Cuban American writer Achy Obejas. Ultimately, I argue that the rafts’ failed potential as sites of public memorial results from their abject proximity to death, which threatens the preexisting social order of the exile community. I suggest that Obejas’s fiction rewrites the fraught history of the Cuban raft through an act of literary memorial that harnesses abjection’s creative possibility.ResumenEste artículo atiende los objetos que flotan en la estela de las migraciones cubanas por mar y a la figura del coleccionista de balsas que intenta preservarlos. Examino la estética abyecta e improvisada de la balsa en sí y las exhibiciones públicas durante la década de 1990 que revelaron su difícil condición como objetos de arte encontrados, desechos marítimos y reliquias de los muertos. De ahí paso a explorar las conexiones entre la presentación de las balsas en exposiciones de arte y su subsiguiente presentación en la obra literaria de la escritora cubana Achy Obejas. Por último, argumento que el potencial fallido de las balsas como monumentos públicos es producto de su proximidad abyecta a la muerte, que amenaza el orden social preexistente de la comunidad exiliada. Sugiero que la ficción de Obejas rescribe la tensa historia de las balsas cubanas en un acto de conmemoración literaria que aprovecha la posibilidad creativa de la abyección.

Modern design in Latin America exists between technological utopia and artisanal memory. Often anachronistic, this tension has historically sponsored the use of unusual materials and unorthodox construction methods. This article critically analyzes key interior spaces designed by Cuban born Clara Porset in mid-century Mexico that interrogate traditional interior and exterior notions and question boundaries between public and private. By exploring both her posh and serene collective interior spaces within early Mexican resort hotels and her well-considered minimal furnishings for affordable housing units, we confirm that both kinds of projects call into question issues of class, gender, and nation building.

This study focuses on the making of African bark-cloth in the Caribbean and the use of plant fibers and pigments in the production and care of clothing for members of the colonized population. The material artifact of interest in this study is lace-bark, a form of bark-cloth, obtained from the bark of the lagetto tree found only in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. The fibres of the lagetto bark were removed by hand and dried, and the end result resembled fine lace or linen that was used by enslaved and freed women in Jamaica to make clothing as well as a substitute for manufactured lace. Although lace-bark is derived from the bark of a tree, it is different from other forms of bark-cloth. For instance, unlike most bark-cloth, the bark of the lagetto tree was not beaten into malleable cloth. The scientific name for the lace-bark tree is Lagetta lagetto; however, common names and spelling vary across regions. The author argues that a vibrant cottage industry based on African bark-cloth and lace-bark developed in Jamaica in response to economic conditions, and the insufficient clothing enslaved Africans received from their enslavers. Women dominated this industry and it fostered a creative space that allowed them to be expressive in their dress and simultaneously to escape, at least temporarily, the harsh realities of the plantation. The subjects of this study are women of African ancestry living in Jamaica from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. By the late seventeenth century, a bark industry had developed in Jamaica that was responsible for producing exquisite bark material that was widely popular. The laghetto tree was known in Cuba as the Daguilla, and in Haiti as bois dentelle.

This research note provides an original analysis of three pieces of Lázaro Saavedra's artwork and locates them within the Cuban struggle for self-definition and representation. It argues that Saavedra, through art, rejects the Cuban communist state's management of ideas and instead challenges his audience to seek truth and identity apart from that defined by the state. His work is a testament to the power, utility, and importance of memory—both for individuals and for the nation. As a leader of \"New Cuban\" art, Saavedra's work offers a fascinating case study and unique window into the understanding of how Cubans used art to provoke societal change. Esta nota de investigación brinda un análisis original de tres piezas de arte de Lázaro Saavedra y las sitúa como parte del esfuerzo cubano por la auto-definición y la representación. Saavedra, a través del arte, rechaza la manipulación de ideas por parte del Estado comunista de Cuba y, por el contrario, reta a su audiencia a buscar verdad e identidad mas allá de lo definido por el Estado. Su trabajo es un testamento al poder, utilidad e importancia de la memoria —tanto para el individuo como para la nación. Como líder del \"nuevo arte cubano\", el trabajo de Saavedra ofrece un fascinante caso de estudio, y una ventana para comprender como los cubanos usaron el arte para provocar cambio social.

This paper analyses recent debates on race and racism in Cuba in the context of changing economic and social conditions in the island. Since the early 1990s, and largely in response to the negative effects that the so-called Special Period had on race relations, a group of artists and intellectuals began denouncing the persistence of racist practices and stereotypes in Cuban society. Although they are not organised around a single program or institution, these musicians, visual artists, writers, academics and activists share common grievances about racism and its social effects. It is in this sense that they constitute a new Afro-Cuban cultural movement. It is too early to fully assess the impact of this movement, but these artists and intellectuals have been largely successful in raising awareness about this problem and bringing it to the attention of authorities and the Cuban public. Este artículo analiza los recientes debates sobre raza y racismo en Cuba en el contexto de las cambiantes condiciones económicas y sociales en la isla. Desde comienzos de los años 90, y en buena medida en respuesta a los efectos negativos que el llamado Periodo Especial tuvo en las relaciones raciales, un grupo de artistas e intelectuales empezaron a denunciar la persistencia de prácticas y estereotipos racistas en la sociedad cubana. Aunque ellos no están organizados en algún programa o institución únicos, estos músicos, artistas visuales, escritores, académicos y activistas comparten agravios comunes alrededor del racismo y sus efectos sociales. Es en este contexto que ellos constituyen un nuevo movimiento cultural afro-cubano. Todavía es muy temprano para evaluar de lleno el impacto de dicho movimiento, pero estos artistas e intelectuales han sido exitosos en gran medida en elevar la conciencia sobre este problema y hacerlo visible a las autoridades cubanas y al público en general. Palabras clave: Relaciones raciales, racismo, desigualdad racial, arte, Partido Independiente de Color, Cubanidad Este artigo analisa recentes debates sobre raça e racismo em Cuba no contexto das condições ecônomicas e políticas em transformação na ilha. Desde o início dos anos 1990, e em boa parte em resposta aos efeitos negativos que o assim chamado Período Especial teve sobre as relações raciais, um grupo de artistas e intelectuais começou a denunciar a persistência de práticas e estereótipos racistas na sociedade cubana. Embora não estejam organizados em torno de um único programa ou instituição, esses músicos, artistas visuais, escritores e ativistas partilham de reclamações comuns a respeito do racismo e seus efeitos sociais. É nesse sentido que constituem um novo movimento cultural afro-cubano. Ainda é cedo para avaliar por inteiro o impacto desse movimento, porém esses artistas e intelectuais conseguiram em grande medida chamar atencão sobre esse problema e despertar a atenção das autoridades e do público cubano. Palavras-chave: Relações raciais, racismo, desigualdade racial, arte, Partido Independiente de Color, cubanidad.

Free and inclusive Cuban education and public health institutions are widely admired. A less celebrated achievement of the Cuban Revolution has been the government's construction of a network of Community Cultural Centres that offer creative leisure time activities to everyone. Cuban identity has been strengthened by preserving 'traditional popular culture' and by encouraging the arts & crafts in all regions of the country and among all sectors of the population. Like schools and hospitals, the Casa de Cultura movement has gone through the transitions as Cuban socialist humanism adapts to international conditions impacting their ability to realise their ideals. The Ministry of Culture administers national councils for visual arts, music and theatre arts. Literature is cultivated via a series of magazines. The National Council of Community Culture is another division of the Ministry, which organises the programmes for amateurs. Abel Prieto is the second Minister of Culture.

This article examines the impact on the visual arts in Cuba of a period commonly referred to as the gray years, a period during the 1970s when economic and cultural practices copied from the Soviet bureaucracy had great weight. It contends that though Cuba's cultural space was restricted during the gray years, there were always artists who created points of resistance, refusing to accept either the stereotypical notions of Cuban identity that a layer of dogmatists ensconced in major cultural institutions or their bureaucratic excesses promoted. The article locates this cultural discourse in polemics that unfolded in the 1960s, when notions of socialist realism were sharply contested, and it furthermore notes how both periods of debate are providing vital reference points in contemporary discussions on cultural policy. With the demise of the Soviet Union and the introduction of the Special Period in the 1990s, artists in Cuba were forced to contend with new factors that challenged the mode of cultural production on the island, particularly the growing inroads of the capitalist market. The article explains how initiatives like the Battle of Ideas, launched in 1999, can help avoid a comparable future rupture with the Cuba's cultural policy. Este artículo examina el impacto en las artes visuales en Cuba de un período comúnmente conocido como los años grises, un período durante la década de 1970, cuando las prácticas económicas y culturales copiadas de la burocracia soviética tenían gran peso. El artículo se sostiene que, aunque el espacio cultural de Cuba se restringió durante los años grises, es incorrecto concluir que la producción artística fue tan limitada por la estrecha visión política de una parte de los funcionarios culturales, que se produjo poco digno de consideración. De hecho, siempre hubo artistas que crearon puntos de resistencia, negándose a aceptar ya sea las nociones estereotipadas de la identidad cubana promovida por una capa de dogmáticos instalados en las principales instituciones culturales o sus excesos burocráticos. Se sitúa este discurso cultural en la polémica que se desarrolló en la década de 1960 cuando se hizo pronunciada oposición a las ideas del realismo socialista, y además, el artículo nota cómo estos dos períodos de debate proporcionan puntos de referencia vitales a las discusiones contemporáneas sobre la política cultural. Con la desaparición de la Unión Soviética y la introducción del Período Especial en la década de 1990, los artistas en Cuba se vieron obligados a enfrentarse a nuevos factores que cuestionaron el modo de producción cultural en la isla, en particular, las crecientes incursiones del mercado capitalista. El ensayo explica cómo la Batalla de Ideas, una importante iniciativa lanzada en 1999, contribuirá a evitar una ruptura futura comparable, con la política cultural de Cuba.

Palo Monte Mayombe is a Cuban religion whose followers are called Congo Reglas. Bettelheim discusses the significance of some of the religion's Kongo-derived iconography and shows how it finds expression in the work of three Cuban contemporary artists, particularly Jose Bedia, an initiated practitioner.