|
|
AfroCubaWeb
|
|
|
Rafael Queneditt Morales: Sculptor of Our Ancestors 1/21/2016 Cuban Art
News: by Alejandro de la Fuente - "Queneditt did not die. He joined the
ancestors to continue his lifelong work of studying, producing, and
disseminating what he always envisioned as an authentic Cuban culture, a culture
anchored in the knowledge, the sweat, and the pain of Africa and its children, a
culture born out of Antillean lashes and fusions. I am not even sure that he has
changed scenarios: Queneditt always lived in such an intimate, personal, daily
communion with the ancestors, that he has probably experienced no transit, no
change at all. They were always together. I know this because he told me, in
front of his Santos."
Tribute to a Sculptor: Alejandro de la Fuente on Marcos Rogelio Rodríguez Cobas 1/2/2016 Cuban
Art News: "With him, it was never in doubt: his inspiration, materials, artistic
language, the very purpose of his work, were all anchored in the rich,
inexhaustible reservoir of Afro-Cuban culture. Quite appropriately, because
Afro-Cuban culture has always traveled through the wavebands of informality, the
news of his death arrived like a whisper, a rumor disseminated by friends and
admirers, short on details, lacking official confirmation: Marcos Rogelio
Rodríguez Cobas, the great master of Afro-Cuban art, one of the island's most
prolific and important sculptors of the last five decades, has passed away. He
was 89 years old."
Harvard Hosts Symposium on the Afrodescendant Movement in Latin America 12/12/2015 The
Root: by Alejandro de la Fuente - "Fighting racism and oppression of people of
African descent, these activists see progress, but a lack of visibility and
sustained resources to bring about change."
A Lesson From Cuba on Race 11/17/2013 New York Times: by
Alejandro de la
Fuente - "In other words, despite Cuba’s success in reducing racial
inequality, young black males continued to be seen as potential criminals.
Perceptions of people of African descent as racially differentiated and inferior
continued to permeate Cuban society and institutions. The point is not that
issues of economic justice and access to resources are irrelevant. Eliminating
massive inequality is a necessary step if we are ever going to dismantle racial
differences. There is, as Gutting argues, a deeper issue of access to basic
resources that does need solution. But the Cuban experience suggests that there
are other equally deep issues that need to be addressed as well."
TEMA RACIAL: Dos artículos de Alejandro de la Fuente 3/21/2013 Negra
Cubana: "Alejandro de la Fuente, es uno de los investigadores cubanos que más a
examinado la problemática racial en Cuba. En consideración a su trabajo
sistemático del significado que tiene llevar un poco más de melanina en la piel,
en una sociedad que se reconstruye todos los días, comparto con quienes pasan
por acá dos artículos de su autoría llegados recientemente a mis manos. Ellos
son: ¨Tengo una raza discriminada. El movimiento afrocubano: hacia un programa
consensuado¨, salido a la luz en la revista Nueva Sociedad y ¨Diálogo virtual
con mis colegas de la Isla¨, publicado en Espacio Laical."
«Tengo una raza oscura y discriminada» El movimiento afrocubano: hacia un
programa consensuado 11/1/2012 Nueva Sociedad: "Inicialmente impulsado por
intelectuales, músicos, escritores y artistas, desde fines de la década de 1990
el movimiento afrocubano ha ido logrando romper el silencio oficial que cubría
el tema racial en Cuba. En los últimos años, la lucha por la igualdad racial se
ha enriquecido con la participación de organizaciones y activistas que han
traducido las denuncias al lenguaje de los derechos ciudadanos. Aunque el
movimiento afrocubano ha ganado en complejidad y diversidad, el debate de los
últimos años ha ido produciendo, en paralelo, una serie de grandes temas de
interés compartido. Estos puntos de acuerdo anticipan, quizás, la posibilidad de
un programa consensuado y una acción común."
Race, Ideology, And Culture In Cuba: Recent Scholarship 2/19/2012 Latin
American Research Review: article by Alejandro de la Fuente, reviewing a recent
crop of books, published in 2000
'Queloides': Artists Explore Racism in Cuba 6/14/2011 The Root: by
Alejandro de la Fuente, with video - "Despite the social transformations
implemented by the Cuban revolutionary government since the early 1960s, racism
continues to be a deep wound in Cuban society, one that generates countless
social and cultural scars. Racist attitudes, ideas and behaviors have gained
strength in Cuban society during the last two decades, during the deep economic
crisis known as "the Special Period," which followed the collapse of the Soviet
Union. As the Cuban economy became dollarized, and competition for scarce jobs
and resources intensified, racial discrimination and racial inequality
increased. White Cubans began to use racist arguments to deny blacks access to
the most attractive sectors of the economy (such as tourism), those in which it
was possible to earn dollars or other hard currencies."
Cuba’s Racial Democracy: What Now? 10/1/2007 New School: by Alejandro de la
Fuente
Race, Ideology, And Culture In Cuba: Recent Scholarship 9/1/2000 LASA: by
Alejandro de la Fuente, University of Pittsburgh
Myths of Racial
Democracy: Cuba, 1900-1912 6/1/1999 Latin American Research Review: "This
article reviews the recent literature on the so-called myths of racial democracy
in Latin America and challenges current critical interpretations of the social
effects of these ideologies. Typically, critics stress the elitist nature of
these ideologies, their demobilizing effects among racially subordinate groups,
and the role they play in legitimizing the subordination of such groups. Using
the establishment of the Cuban republic as a test case, this article contends
that the critical approach tends to minimize or ignore altogether the
opportunities that these ideologies have created for those below, the capacity
of subordinate groups to use the nation-state's cultural project to their own
advantage, and the fact that these social myths also restrain the political
options of their own creators."
/Enlaces
Slave Law and Claims-Making in Cuba: The Tannenbaum Debate Revisited, Law and History Review, Summer 2004
Page at Harvaard University
history.fas.harvard.edu/people/faculty/delafuente.php
Alejandro de la Fuente was co-organizer of
Symposium: “Afrodescendants: Fifteen Years after Santiago. Achievements and
Challenges”
Simposio "Afrodescendientes: quince años despues de Santiago. Logros y
desafíos"
Harvard University, 4-5/12/2015
www.clacso.org.ar/libreria-latinoamericana/libro_detalle.php?id_libro=1495&pageNum_rs_libros=0&totalRows_rs_libros=1388
Estudios afrolatinoamericanos
Una introducción
Alejandro de la Fuente. George Reid Andrews. [Editores]
Descarga gratis.
Visualizing Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean, 16th-19th Centuries 1/13/2018 H-LatAm: "Keynote
speakers: Dr. Tamara J. Walker, University of Toronto & Prof. Alejandro de la
Fuente, Harvard University Recent years have witnessed a rich wave of
scholarship examining representations of Blackness in the visual cultures of the
Atlantic world. This avenue of enquiry is particularly germane to Latin America
and the Caribbean, home to the world’s largest African diasporic populations.
Whilst the theme of black people’s invisibility is deeply inscribed in both the
history and scholarship of the region, the study of visual and material culture
presents new avenues for understanding both the complexities of the black
experience, and the ways in which notions of Blackness and peoples of African
descent have indelibly shaped the cultures and societies of Latin America and
the Caribbean."
Especialistas en Cuba llaman a desamericanizar los estudios afro 12/24/2017 IPS: "Así
trascendió en un conversatorio convocado por la Cátedra de Estudios
Afrodescendientes del estatal Centro de Investigaciones Psicológicas y
Sociológicas (CIPS) y que tuvo como invitado al profesor cubano Alejandro de la
Fuente, director del Instituto de Investigaciones Afrolatinas de la Universidad
de Harvard, en Estados Unidos. “Un reto actual es desamericanizar el campo de
estudio y producir preguntas, historias y epistemologías desde nuestra región”,
comentó De la Fuente en su presentación, efectuada el pasado 19 de diciembre.
“Podríamos y deberíamos preguntarnos, cómo cambia el estudio de la desigualdad
racial cuando nos posicionamos desde el Sur”, subrayó."
Trump abrió la caja de Pandora 5/9/2017 Clarin: "Para Alejandro de la
Fuente, director del Instituto de Estudios Afrolatinoamericanos de la
Universidad de Harvard, el lema de campaña electoral de Trump Make America great
again (Hacer grande a EE.UU. otra vez), fue interpretado por mucha gente como
una promesa de regreso a los años 50, “una época en la cual reinaba la
segregación racial”. Experto en esclavitud y relaciones interraciales, afirma
que el presidente “legitimó a estos grupos que previamente estaban en los
márgenes de la vida política estadounidense”."
Movimiento afrocubano celebra 2 décadas de lucha contra el racismo en la isla 4/15/2017 Nuevo
Herald: "Más de 30 activistas, escritores, intelectuales, académicos y
emprendedores cubanos, en su mayoría afrodescendientes, convergieron en una
reunión que calificaron como “histórica” en la Universidad de Harvard para
celebrar los logros del movimiento afrocubano y trazar una agenda para el
trabajo futuro. “Tenemos que tener conciencia de que este es un acto histórico”,
dijo Tomás Fernández Robaina, miembro de la Articulación Regional
Afrodescendiente (ARAC) — y autor del pionero libro El Negro en Cuba — al inicio
del evento el viernes, organizado por el Afro-Latin American Research Institute
en el Hutchins Center de esa universidad y que sesionará hasta el sábado."
In Cuba, a battle against racism persists, activists say 4/15/2017 Miami
Herald: "More than 30 Cuban activists, writers, academics and entrepreneurs,
mostly of African descent, gathered at Harvard University for an unprecedented
meeting to celebrate the achievements of the Afro-Cuban movement on the island
and set the course for future work. “We have to be aware that this is historical
event,” said Tomás Fernández Robaina, a member of the Regional Afro-Descendant
Network group known by the Spanish acronym ARAC and author of the pioneering
book El Negro en Cuba."
Havana's small business boom exposes a stark racial divide 4/5/2017 PRI: "Harvard’s
Alejandro de la Fuente said the lack of black business owners is leading to a
stark economic divide between white and black Cubans, something the socialist
government worked hard to erase. He thinks the Cuban government should step in.
“You could concentrate development funds in some of the poorest areas of the
city so residents in those areas could use public funds to launch their own
businesses,” de la Fuente said. He said that small business owners also need to
focus on hiring Afro Cubans. “You could look at the possibility of establishing
labor policies that make sure that the emergent private sector actually is open
to and forced to incorporate and hire people of African descent.”
Preview: Juan Roberto Diago at Harvard 1/31/2017 Cuban Art News: "Tomorrow
evening, the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at
Harvard University welcomes Diago: The Pasts of This Afro-Cuban Present. Juan
Roberto Diago and the show’s curator, Alejandro de la Fuente, spoke about the
exhibition with Cuban Art News."
Opening Reception: "ON GUARD (Con la Guardia en Alto)" 4/8/2016 Afro-Latin
American Research Institute, Harvard: Elio Rodriguez, curated by Alejandro de la
Fuente
African American Museum traces the influence of Cuban art 2/16/2016 Newsworks,
Philadelphia: "A little-known artistic revolution in Cuba almost 40 years ago is
now featured at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. A group of Cuban
artists banded together in 1978 together as Grupo Antillano, to make work
highlighting African ties to Cuba."
‘Drapetomanía’ and the erasure of Afro-Cuban art 2/8/2016 AL DÍA
News: ""What is unusual about this group of artists is that even though they
maintained a high level of exposition between 1979 and 1983, they do not appear
and are not registered in any of the books of the so-called new Cuban art. It’s
a group that once was very successful but then was simply erased from the
history of Cuban art," de la Fuente told AL DÍA News."
Cuban art exhibit opens at Melbourne museum 1/14/2016 Florida Today: with
video and discussion of how FIT's Foosaner Museum brought up Gordillo and his
paintaings. Plus “Afrocuban Painting,” a lecture by Alejandro de la Fuente, the
Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics and
director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University.
10:30 a.m. Jan. 16, Harris Community Auditorium at the Foosaner Art Museum.
Free."
Update: New Shows in Havana, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin; Honors for Herrera,
Estévez, Fonseca, and Viva 1/12/2016 Cuban Art News: "Drapetomanía coming
to Philadelphia. The long-touring exhibition, curated by Alejandro de la Fuente,
will open at the African American Museum in Philadelphia on January 30. (It
debuted almost three years ago in Santiago de Cuba, later traveling to Havana,
New York, Boston, and other US cities.) A tribute to the Afro-Cuban visual arts
movement Grupo Antillano, the exhibition showcases work by the group’s original
members, and by later Cuban artists who share many of their interests and
concerns. This presentation will also serve as an informal memorial to Grupo
Antillano founder Rafael Queneditt Morales, who died earlier this month in
Havana. The show will run in Philadelphia through March 20."
Expertos analizan el futuro de Cuba en conferencia de FIU 2/27/2015 Nuevo
Herald: "En la sesión plenaria del evento, organizado por el Instituto de
Estudios Cubanos, se presentaron investigaciones sobre distintos aspectos del
tema racial en Cuba, eje central del evento. La historiadora de la Universidad
de Nueva York, Ada Ferrer, ofreció una relectura de la figura de José Antonio
Aponte –condenado a la horca por encabezar una rebelión abolicionista en los
inicios del siglo 19–, mientras el también historiador Alejandro de la Fuente,
profesor de la Universidad de Harvard, analizó los aportes del Grupo Antillano y
su posterior olvido en la historia cultural del país. Andrea Queeley y Danielle
Clealand, ambas profesoras de FIU, presentaron algunas conclusiones sobre sus
trabajos de investigación en Cuba acerca del prejuicio racial y la conciencia de
la negritud, respectivamente. Otros paneles que discutieron el tema abordaron la
problemática racial desde el movimiento de los derechos civiles en Cuba, la
integración social, la identidad nacional, la literatura, el cine y la rumba,
entre otros."
Harvard professor presents about racial democracy in Cuba 2/7/2015 The
Maneater: "De la Fuente said he hopes people remember from his presentation how
difficult it is to eliminate racism from a culture. “This is no easy battle,” he
said. “It will take a lot of determination and imagination to achieve that but I
do believe it is achievable. That may sound somewhat utopian, but there’s
nothing wrong with utopian vision. Racism is a major problem in the world,
across the Americas, in Europe and definitely in the US.”"
Drapetomanía, una expo sobre el cimarronaje en el MoAD 12/13/2014 Negra
Cubana: "La expo “Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba” se
encuentra en estos momentos siendo exhibida en el Museo de la Diáspora Africana
(MoAD) en San Francisco. La noticia nos la hace llegar el intelectual cubano y
curador de la misma Alejandro de la Fuente. Con anterioridad, en el mes de mayo,
dicha exposición estuvo en la galería The 8th Floor, en Nueva York y fue
expuesta originalmente en el Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas y Diseño en
Santiago de Cuba (abril-mayo, 2013). La exposición, que celebra un grupo de
artistas de la década de 1970, viajará a continuación a la galería de Ethelbert
Cooper en el Hutchins Center for African and African American Research,
Universidad de Harvard (primavera 2015)."
Renovated MoAD bigger, better 12/11/2014 SF Examiner: "Afro-Cuban
experiences are the focus of “Drapetomania,” which is on view through Jan. 4.
Curated by Harvard scholar Alejandro de la Fuente, the show celebrates Grupo
Antillano, a 1970s-80s group of long-unsung Cuban artists whose work
demonstrates how African traditions have shaped Cuban culture. “Sin titulo,” an
oil painting by artist and political revolutionary Manuel Couceiro Prado, is
among the works on view. “Serie Cabezas,” a mixed-media piece by significant
Cuban artist Manuel Mendive (who is influenced by the Santeria religion)
addresses social issues. “Resurreccion,” a sculpture featuring a wooden angel,
is by Rafael Queneditt, a primary force behind Grupo Antillano’s creation."
MoAD cuts the ribbon and welcomes art lovers to reimagined space 12/4/2014 SF
Chronicle: "Executive Director Linda Harrison welcomed the crowd and introduced
board chair Wade Rose, director of the Institute for Afro-Latin American Studies
at Harvard; Alejandro de la Fuente (who curated the “Drapetomania: Grupo
Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba” show); and artist Lava Thomas (whose
sculptures and drawings are featured in “Lava Thomas: Beyond”). Then — blessed
are the brief, and they were — short remarks were made by San Francisco City
Administrator Naomi Kelly and by Willie Brown, who as mayor had hammered out the
deal that created MoAD as part of a redevelopment project and who sits on the
board of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and
Culture."
A New Destination for African Art 11/20/2014 NYT: "Sponsored by the
Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and its founder Henry
Louis Gates Jr., the Cooper Gallery holds a lot of promise, and has a
stimulating program planned. Next up, an historical show of work by the now
largely forgotten Afro-Cuban art and political movement called Grupo Antillano
(1978-83), organized by Alejandro de la Fuente, a professor of Latin American
history and African-American studies at Harvard."
Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba on view at The 8th Floor
in New York 4/17/2014 OnCuba: "Drapetomania is sponsored by the Afro-Latin
American Research Institute of Harvard University, with financial support from
the Ford Foundation and the Christopher Reynolds Foundation. The exhibition is
complemented by the book Grupo Antillano: The Art of Afro-Cuba, edited by De la
Fuente, with essays by art critics and historians as Guillermina Ramos Cruz,
José Veigas and Judith Bettelheim."
President Jimmy Carter at The 8th Floor 4/2/2014 Harvard Gazette: "The 8th
Floor was proud to host a social event on Sunday, March 23, attended by
President Jimmy Carter and by his grandson, Georgia State Sen. Jason Carter.
President Carter visited The 8th Floor, the art gallery supported by
philanthropists and art collectors Shelley and Donald Rubin in New York City,
where the art exhibit Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba,
curated by Harvard Professor Alejandro de la Fuente, is currently on display."
President Jimmy Carter visits Drapetomania at The 8th Floor 3/23/2014 The
8th Floor: "The 8th Floor was proud to host a social event On Sunday, March
23rd, attended by President Jimmy Carter and by his grandson, Georgia State
Senator Jason Carter. President Jimmy Carter visited The 8th Floor, the art
gallery supported by philanthropists and art collectors Shelley and Donald Rubin
in New York City, where the art exhibit Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the
Art of Afro-Cuba, curated by Harvard professor Alejandro de la Fuente, is
currently on display. Organized by Rachel Weingeist, Director of The 8th Floor,
the event allowed a group of supporters and friends of President Carter to
mingle with the President and to experience a sample of Cuban contemporary art."
Alejandro de la Fuente on the New Afro-Cuban Cultural Movement 11/14/2013 Repeating
Islands: "Professor de la Fuente succeeded in demonstrating the qualitative
differences between the discourse on race in the mid-twentieth century and that
of the ‘90s and the first part of twenty-first, providing a wide array of
examples of cultural products, especially, music, literature, and the visual
arts. The lecture included a discussion of rappers Hermanos de Causa, poetry by
Teresa Cárdenas Angulo, and visual artists such as René Peña, Alexis Esquivel,
Juan Roberto Diago, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Andrés Montalván Cuéllar,
among others, which led to an animated and productive conversation with the
speaker."
Del estante: El arte afro-cubano del Grupo Antillano 7/25/2013 Cuban Art
News: de Zoya Kocur - "El proyecto de De la Fuente ha traído de vuelta un
capítulo poco conocido de la historia del arte cubano y la historia cultural
afrocubana. Al igual que la exposición, el libro se centra en cómo el proyecto
del Grupo Antillano contribuyó a la formación de un movimiento afro-cubano a
través de la afirmación y promoción de la cultura e identidad cubanas negras.
Las razones de la falta de atención al Grupo Antillano después de su disolución
seguirán siendo objeto de debate, los historiadores y críticos de arte e
historiadores ofrecerán diferentes evaluaciones de las exposiciones del Grupo
Antillano. Pero a través de la exposición de De la Fuente y este libro valioso,
ahora tenemos la oportunidad de verla por nosotros mismos."
Disidentes y activistas contra la discriminación racial participan en el
Congreso de LASA 6/1/2013 Diario de Cuba: "A las conferencias asistieron
asimismo el activista Juan Antonio Madrazo y el bloguero y escritor Orlando Luis
Pardo Lazo; Ted Henken, profesor del Baruch College de la Universidad de Nueva
York; Marcelo Fajardo-Cárdenas, de la Universidad de Mery Washington (Virginia);
Alejandro de la Fuente, de la University of Pittsburgh, y el historiador y
ensayista cubano Rafael Rojas, entre otros."
Did Ché Guevara write 'extensively' about the superiority of white Europeans?
Rubio says yes 4/17/2013 Politifacts: "At least a couple of our experts
pointed to a famous speech Guevara made at the University of Santa Clara in 1959
in which he called for greater representation in all parts of Cuban society. At
workers rallies around that time, Guevara and Raul Castro talked about the need
to "advance the revolution’s anti-discrimination program," wrote Alejandro de la
Fuente, a University of Pittsburgh history professor in his book A Nation for
All: Race, Inequality and Politics in 20th Century Cuba. In the speech at Santa
Clara, Guevara called for the university to "paint itself with black, paint
itself with mulatto" students and teachers, Fuente wrote."
En conversación: Alejandro de la Fuente, “Drapetomanía” y el Grupo Antillano 4/2/2013 Cuban
Art News
In
Conversation: Alejandro de la Fuente on Drapetomanía and Grupo Antillano 4/2/2013 DRCLAS,
Harvard: "De la Fuente has described Grupo Antillano as a forgotten visual arts
and cultural movement that thrived between 1978 and 1983. The group proclaimed
the centrality of African practices in national culture. For them, Africa and
the surrounding Caribbean was not a dead cultural heritage but a vibrant,
ongoing and vital influence that continued to define what it means to be Cuban.
Yet de la Fuente was surprised to discover that neither the art nor the very
existence of Grupo Antillano is remembered today. As he puts it, Grupo Antillano
has been removed from all accounts of the so-called "new Cuban art," which took
shape precisely during those years and is frequently associated with the
legendary exhibition Volumen Uno (1981). In contrast to Grupo Antillano, says de
la Fuente, most of the artists of Volmen Uno did not look towards Africa or the
Caribbean for inspiration, but to new trends in Western art."
Historian Alejandro de la Fuente
to Join Harvard's Faculty 3/1/2013 DRCLAS, Harvard: "Professor de la
Fuente's primary affiliation will be in the Department of African and
African-American Studies. Department Chair Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham notes,
"Alejandro will be a tremendous asset to us all, as he develops Afro-Latin
American, Cuban, and Latin American Studies at Harvard."
«Tengo una raza oscura y discriminada». El movimiento afrocubano: hacia un
programa consensuado 11/1/2012 Nueva Sociadad: "Inicialmente impulsado por
intelectuales, músicos, escritores y artistas, desde fines de la década de 1990
el movimiento afrocubano ha ido logrando romper el silencio oficial que cubría
el tema racial en Cuba. En los últimos años, la lucha por la igualdad racial se
ha enriquecido con la participación de organizaciones y activistas que han
traducido las denuncias al lenguaje de los derechos ciudadanos."
Race and Income Inequality in Contemporary Cuba 7/1/2011 NACLA
“Queloides” in New York: An Interview with the Curators 4/19/2011 Cuban Art
Newsx: "Queloides is a long-term collective project in Cuban art. It’s not a
project that belongs to me or to Elio, or to any of the artists who are
exhibitng now. This is a project that was born in the late 1990s. The first
exhibition was curated by Alexis Esquivel and Omar Pascual Castillo. It was a
modest exhibit, in 1997, at Casa de Africa in Havana. It got very little press
coverage, and very little recognition. Then there was a second, bigger exhibit
organized by the late Ariel Ribeaux Diago in 1999. Ariel Ribeaux began to expand
the project—gave it additional theoretical coherence. And then of course Ariel
Ribeaux died a few years later and the project got suspended. Nothing else
happened. When I learned about these exhibits, the first thing that caught my
eye was how little information was available about the exhibits themselves, and
about what I saw as a very important movement in Cuban art, and in Cuban culture
more generally. But the exhibits have been ignored—and continue to be,
actually—in the annals of Cuban art. If you look at the best books of Cuban art,
you’ll see that in most cases the exhibits are not even mentioned."
Rafael
Lopez Ramos, "La Huella del Latigo" Los Lirios del Jardin 4/19/2011 ArtSlant: "A
propósito de la recién inaugurada edición del proyecto Queloides, dialogué vía
correo eléctronico con sus curadores Alejandro de la Fuente y Elio Rodríguez
Valdés acerca del tema en que se centra la exposición y otros detalles
relacionados con esta."
Alejandro
de la Fuente y Michael Olijnyk nos hablan sobre "Queloides" 2/26/2011 YouTube: "Tuyomasyo
Art presenta: Alejandro de la Fuente y Michael Olijnyk nos hablan sobre
"Queloides" Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art. Michael Olijnyk
Co-director de Mattress Factory y Alejandro de la Fuente historiador y curador
de la muestra."
Diálogo virtual con mis colegas de la Isla 2/1/2011 Espacio Laical: "He
leído con enorme interés sobre un curso de postgrado dedicado al tema
“Racialidad en la Cuba Actual”, que se ofreció recientemente en la Facultad de
Biología de la Universidad de La Habana. Dictado por tres respetados
especialistas cubanos, los profesores Antonio J. Martínez Fuentes, Esteban
Morales Domínguez y Armando Rangel Rivero, este curso me pareció importante y
sugerente por varias razones."
"Queloides" Catalog 1/6/2011 Matress Factory Shop: "Queloides: Race and
Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art," companion volume to the exhibition of the
same name at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, documents the
complete exhibition in the United States as well as the previous Queloides
exhibitions in Cuba. Edited by Cuban scholar and Queloides co-curator, Alejandro
de la Fuente, this 172-page full-color bilingual (English and Spanish) catalog
contains four essays: “Introduction: The New Afro-Cuban Cultural Movement,” by
Alejandro de la Fuente; “Queloides: A History,” by Omar Pascual Castillo; “Race
and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art” by Odette Casamayor; and “Racism: Parody
and Postcommunism” by Dennys Matos. The “Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban
Contemporary Art” catalog also includes extensive full-color photographic
documentation of works in the exhibitions at the Wifredo Lam Center and the
Mattress Factory and biographies of each of the 13 artists."
The Audacity of a
Cuban Curator 10/21/2010 Havana Times: "[Havana Times:] You’ve been banned
from Cuba due to the exhibition. What happened? [Alejandro:] We presented this
project to Cuba’s cultural authorities in 2008. I wanted to show it first in
Havana because I didn’t want to do it only for foreign consumption. I understood
that this was a polemic project, but I also thought that the situation had
changed in the island. Racism is something that has been recognized even by
Fidel Castro, who had acknowledged publicly that racism has not been solved. The
cultural authorities were never quite enthusiastic about the project, but they
said we could do it. The authorities had no chance to select the artists. I
think several of the bureaucrats started having nightmares that this might
endanger their positions and their privileges or that state security may call
them. Maybe they did call them." [Alejandro has since been able to return to
Cuba.]
Cuban Art Makes Waves 10/1/2010 Pittsburgh Magazine: "Alejandro de la
Fuente believes that art can improve not only the lives of individuals, but it
also can benefit the future of nations. That’s one of the reasons he’s
co-curating “Queloides III,” an exhibit opening at the Mattress Factory this
month that examines a controversial issue in contemporary Cuba."
Racism in
Contemporary Cuba Explored in Mattress Factory Exhibition, Cocurated by Pitt’s
Alejandro de la Fuente 9/13/2010 Pitt Chronicle
Buscando a Taita Facundo 8/1/2009 Cuba Encuentro: "Nicolás Guillén la
definió como un abrazo en su «Balada de los dos abuelos». La cubanidad
blanquinegra, de estirpe africana y española, era representada a través de la
metáfora de los dos abuelos —«Sombras que sólo yo veo»—, negro el uno, el otro
blanco, que se juntaban en un abrazo fundacional, creador de lo que somos. Con
sus selvas de lanzas y caimanes, Taita Facundo evocaba barcos negreros, látigos
y cañas. Con gorguera y armadura, Taita Federico hablaba el lenguaje del oro,
los ingenios y los galeones. Juntos, los dos abuelos andaban, compartiendo
cantos y cañadas. Juntos alzaban la cabeza, «los dos del mismo tamaño, bajo las
estrellas altas». Juntos, del mismo tamaño. Juntos e iguales. Juntos. Iguales."
Havana and the Atlantic in the Sixteenth Century. 4/1/2009 College of
Williams and Mary: "Although previous generations of historians have documented
various aspects of the city’s early development, their main emphasis has often
been on Havana’s imperial role as a military outpost and major stopover of the
Spanish fleet system. De la Fuente’s book revises—or, rather, complements—that
limited imperial view by highlighting Havana’s maritime, commercial role as a
port city, by placing it in the context of Atlantic studies, and by providing a
richly textured local view of the emerging city."
La "raza" y los silencios de la cubanidad 1/7/2009 Encuentro: Alejandro de
la Fuente
The New Afro-Cuban Cultural Movement and the Debate on Race in Contemporary Cuba 12/4/2008 Journal
of Latin American Studies: "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."
Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All: Race, Inequality, and Politics in
Twentieth Century Cuba 9/1/2003 Labour: "The book's central argument is
that the myth of racial equality was not simply an elite--generated idea that
served to demobilize or co-opt Afro-Cubans. The author convincingly demonstrates
that Afro-Cubans appropriated the same myth to fight against racism, class
oppression, and neo-colonialism. The elite interpretation of racial equality saw
any race-based demands, organizations, and sentiments as racist and anti-Cuban.
In contrast, a subaltern popular nationalism of mostly Afro-Cuban origin saw the
conscious struggle against racism as an integral aspect of the fight for social
justice and national independence. Thus race relations in Cuba were
characterized by ambiguity more than rigid social dichotomies, by contestation
and accommodation more than violent confrontation, and by competing notions of
national identity that shaped Cuban political transitions and culture."
Myths of Racial
Democracy: Cuba, 1900-1912 6/1/1999 Latin American Research Review: "This
article reviews the recent literature on the so-called myths of racial democracy
in Latin America and challenges current critical interpretations of the social
effects of these ideologies. Typically, critics stress the elitist nature of
these ideologies, their demobilizing effects among racially subordinate groups,
and the role they play in legitimizing the subordination of such groups. Using
the establishment of the Cuban republic as a test case, this article contends
that the critical approach tends to minimize or ignore altogether the
opportunities that these ideologies have created for those below, the capacity
of subordinate groups to use the nation-state's cultural project to their own
advantage, and the fact that these social myths also restrain the political
options of their own creators."
[AfroCubaWeb] [Site Map] [Music] [Arts] [Authors] [News] [Search this site]
