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Afro-Cuban art: A world first at The JAGRiana Greenblo Communications02/06/2010 11:57:32 
The largest and most diverse exhibition of Afro Cuban art ever to be staged anywhere in the world opens at The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) on Sunday 23 May 2010. Curated by internationally renowned independent curator Orlando Hernandez, this extraordinary exhibition of works entitled Without Masks will run until August 29 and forms the focus of various exhibitions JAG will stage in celebration of the world converging on South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Other highlights include a video installation by William Kentridge and a group exhibition of photographic work entitled Borders from the 2009 Bamako Biennale. "What makes Without Masks exhibition so unique," says Hernandez, "is that no exhibition of Cuban art has ever focused on Cuba's African heritage in this way. The works included specifically explore two major themes which inextricably link the history and culture of Cuba and Africa - that of the ongoing issue of race within contemporary Cuban society, and the African religious beliefs and practices which thrive in Cuba today having been brought to the island from West and Central Africa by African slaves." An added feather in the cap of the Without Masks exhibition is the fact that the works of at least two exhibiting artists, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Marta María Perez have been included in the Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic exhibition running at the UK's Tate Liverpool from 29 January - 25 April 2010. The Afro Modern exhibition explores the fusion of black cultures with other cultures from around the Atlantic and its impact on art from the early twentieth century to the present. Comments Hernandez, "The dispersal of people of black African descent -many forcibly displaced by the slave trade - had a profound impact on art and culture that has been frequently overlooked or diminished. We are delighted that there has been a renewed interest internationally in the cultures connecting Africa and the Americas and that some of the artists from the Without Masks exhibition have found their rightful place in this Afro Atlantic exhibition being staged by the Tate. It certainly recognizes the quality of some of the artists that are participating in Without Masks". It is hoped that as well as bringing a unique side of Cuba to Johannesburg, this exhibition will provide South Africans with the opportunity to engage with the issues it raises. The public program at JAG will invite South Africans to do so, in the form of debates and discussions with Hernandez and some of the artists themselves, who will be in South Africa during the first week of the exhibition and will participate in education programs, walkabouts, and seminars. The artwork itself is from that brief and important interlude of Cuban art between 1980 and the present, which has seen the treatment of Afro Cuban themes assuming new and bold characteristics, in contrast to the relatively stereo-typed artwork of earlier periods. Exhibiting artists range from Belkis Ayon, whose printmaking has received international acclaim and Manuel Mendive, one of Cuba's most prominent contemporary artists, to Bernardo Almoguea who paints his brightly coloured and politically probing works from his government-owned potato stand. Rene Pena's sophisticated black and white photography looks at issues of both gender and race, whilst internationally acclaimed artists Jose Bedia, Yoan Capote, Carlos Garaicoa, Armando Mariño, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Elio Rodriguez, Douglas Perez and Roberto Diago are among the 26 artists who will exhibit approximately 80 works at this highlight exhibition in JAG's 2010 calendar. Issued on behalf of The Johannesburg Art Gallery Artslink.co.za Account: Huibri Schalkwyk Riana Greenblo Communications 011 325 6006 huibri@rgcom.co.za Without Masks |
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