Cuba Photography Missions
cc Mechelen February 5 – April 17, 2022
In 2019, Cuba celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Revolution. In 1959, Fidel Castro and Ché Guevarra ousted the dictator Fulgencio Batista and the country began working towards a utopian future. However, caught between the hammer and the anvil of Soviet communism and an American embargo, the country entered a period of sustained economic hardship whilst remaining fundamentally committed to the socialist values of the Revolution.
Against this background, an extensive photography project was set up with four Cuban and four European artists. Taking the current social and economic reality of the island as their starting point, each developed a photographic project that together provide a nuanced picture of this complex country. The eight works juxtapose the photographic interpretations of the local artists with those of the Europeans, who produced their work during several intensive working trips. The project starts from the idea of ‘heritage’, in the broadest sense of the word, and explores Cuba’s past, present and future.
Who we are and from which perspective we view each other determines the richness of this unique endeavour.
This VLIR-UOS project is the result of a collaboration between ISA, Universidad de las Artes in Havana and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
With: Ossain Raggi Gonzalez, Bert Danckaert, Linet Sanchez, Charlotte Lybeer, Liudmila & Nelson, Ulla Deventer, Ricardo Elias, Simon Roberts
Curator: Joachim Naudts
