A group of Cuban creators are presenting their works at the “Umbral” art exhibition, in the Chelsea art district, in New York City, to continue fighting for freedom in Cuba from the art trench.
The artist Julio Llópiz-Casal, who lives in Cuba and participated in the protest in front of the Ministry of Culture on November 27, 2020, presented his work “Carry the pain in the chest”, which shows a black and fluffy female mannequin who wears the pins of Cuban political prisoners on his torso.
“I made those stamps to circulate among people, so that they could show them off and be able to have the possibility that someone anywhere asks Who is he?… just as they ask about the face of Che Guevara, but this time not to speak of a propagandistic icon of communism, but of a person who is being crushed by communist hatred”, explained the artist to Radio Televisión Martí.
This is one of the many works exhibited in Montserrat Contemporary Art Gallery (founded in 1989), where Cuban artists show the reality that is lived on the island.
“Many people in the public see these works and are surprised, because they did not know that artists in Cuba were imprisoned or silenced,” the owner of the gallery told Radio Televisión Martí.
In a video posted on YouTube, the exhibition’s curators, Anamely Ramos and Claudia Genlui, along with various artists from the exhibition, addressed the goals of “Umbral.”
“The idea is to show how these artists have resisted and how we can take care of each other in a totalitarian context like the Cuban one,” explained Ramos, who due to his activism is prohibited from returning to Cuba, his native country, by order of the regime. He said that it is about showing the world through art what is happening in Cuba, specifically from the point of view of some artists who are “a focus of resistance.”
“I think Cubans have to be more listened to”
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The curator and activist pointed out that this reality is not always known.
Genlui assured that “Umbral” aims to be a door to understand Cuba, “a reality that may be alien to many people who are outside.”
“Right now Cuba (…) is a dictatorship where all these artists have been protagonists,” said Genlui, who also stressed that some authors of the works presented are in prison. Several of these artist-prisoners are without a trial date or awaiting a sentence, such as the leader of the San Isidro Movement, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and the interpreter of “Patria y Vida”, Maykel Castillo “El Osorbo”. Both are considered prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International.
Camila Lobón, a visual artist, assured that “Umbral” is “a compendium of the history of recent years in Cuba” that allows the creation of an important narrative about dissident groups and the artistic practice that has been developing.
Héctor Trujillo, an artist living in Cuba, said he felt that the exhibition creates a “direct door” with Cuban artists expressing what they live on the island. Other artists on the island who are participating in this exhibition are Frank Aguiar, Osmani Pardo and Anyelo Troya, among others. Many of the artists from “Umbral” participated in the protests of 27N and 11J and were repressed and arrested by the regime.
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