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Since 2000 Flora Fairbairn has worked with artists from all over the world, such as Cuba, where she was a creative advisor for the Havana Cultura Visual Arts Project, and co-curator alongside Sachie Hernández and Yuneikys Villalonga for A Smell That Comes Through My Window, an exhibition that took place during the 11th Edition of the Havana Biennial in 2012. Flora Fairbairn & Co. is delighted to be collaborating with Sachie Hernández once more on an exhibition of works by 15 Cuban artists presented online. This inaugural exhibition is being launched during an atmosphere of great tension among Cuban artists and the Island’s government institutions, as a result of the complex transformation processes that Cuban society is going through.
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Cuba is in the midst of economic reforms, the result of which has created more poverty and an expansion of inequalities in society, affecting currency circulation and distribution, the correlation of more prominent roles among the state sector, as well as in the still emerging private sector. All this occurring during a global economic crisis due to the COVID-19 and the progressive intensification of the measures reaffirming the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba during Donald Trump’s presidential term.
Furthermore, changes have occurred in local society concerning the diversity of actors, agendas, ideological registrations, and expectations of interaction with the government. But, in general, there has been an increase in society questioning, challenging and negotiating on institutional policies, alongside the formal organisations that had been established for dialogue between the citizens and government authorities. There is consensus by all involved for the need for an increase, legitimization and acceptance of new spaces for the expression of diverse opinions and active participation of society, not only in political discussions essential for the future of the nation, but also in the subsequent decision-making.
The capacity and possibilities of the institutionalized public power to process, differentiate and respond to these demands have been limited and currently there is a certain polarization between the positions of the Government and the minority sectors and more radical actors. The requests and demands drawn up by artists and intellectuals have been widely reported, but there is not a uniform perspective within this group, nor are they the only people who have something to say and contribute to the national debate taking place in the Island. Cuba is evolving and in its process of change, although slow but profound, it is absolutely connected to regional and global debates. Its flows and correlations within other contexts are evident.
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Sachie Hernández has been founder and director of La Sindical since 2017, an independent art project sited in La Habana. La Sindical’s purpose is to promote and commercialize the work of a group of artists, mainly Cuban, who live and work in and out of Cuba. La Sindical’s scope transcends its physical space to collaborate on exhibitions worldwide, to connect and promote projects pertaining to other art forms, and to sustain a constant relationship with the community it is part of. Furthermore, Hernández has curated numerous exhibitions in Havana, Berlin, Barcelona, Boston, Vermont and Mexico DF. She ran institutions such as the Servando Gallery and the Havana Center for the Development of Visual Arts, and she integrated the Organizing Committee of the Havana 10th Biennial. She coordinated Habana Cultura’s Artist Residency program and has been a consultant for UNESCO and other residency projects such as Artista X Artista. Prior to launching La Sindical, she collaborated with Galeria Continua in Havana for two years.
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"WE CHOSE THESE ARTISTS BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN THE BEAUTY OF THEIR WORK, AND THE POETIC, POLITICAL, HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIAL AND ETHICAL MOTIVATIONS THAT INSPIRE THEM"
Flora and Sachie’s presentation does not involve a specific curatorial claim, there is no definite research subject around which to articulate a specific narrative. The selection of artists illustrates a certain drive towards artworks that are recent, available, executed with creative rigor and authenticity, related to the artists’ research interests. The artists have been selected for the poetic, political, historical, philosophical, social and ethical motivations that inspire them.
The exhibition connects sensitivities of different generations of Cuban artists, some have worked internationally while others have remained in Cuba. None of the artworks denote the national or local picturesque stereotypes or local color. On the contrary, they relate to universal, contemporary styles and discourses.
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Liz Capote, from El Suicidio de Sísifo
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Many of these artists have international reputations and have exhibited widely in biennials and international art fairs, such as Gustavo Perez Monzon, Diango Hernández and Juan Miguel Pozo. Some of the others are young and emerging artists who will benefit from getting their work seen by a wider audience.
We are thrilled to be contributing 10% of profit to Akokan, a Network of Community Social Support located in the neighborhood Los Pocitos, Havana, since 2016. Akokan, - a word from Lucumi, an Afro-Cuban ritual language meaning “from the heart”. is a black and mixed race community consisting of more than 2000 people living in vulnerable and deprived conditions. Akokan It is a model of intervention on a small scale that involves the joint action of the public, government, universities and the private sector created to generate opportunities of improvement of the living conditions of the community.
