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AfroCubaWeb
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Judith Bettelheim
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SPECIALIZATION
The Arts of Africa, the African Diaspora and the Caribbean
San Francisco State University Faculty Member 1981-2009 (Retired)
Adjunct Professor UCLA 2010-2012
EDUCATION
Yale University, History of Art, Ph.D. June 1979
UCLA, Master of Art, 1967-70
Antioch College, Bachelor of Art, 1962-67
PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
2011. Transcultural Pilgrim: Three Decades of Work by José Bedia. co-authors
Judith Bettelheim and Janet Berlo, Fowler Museum at UCLA: 216 pp.; 108 illus.
bibliography, index.
2005. AfroCuba: Works on Paper, 1968-2003. exhibition catalog (San Francisco:
SFSU and the University of Washington Press) 88pp.; 35 color illus.
2001. Cuban Festivals: A Century of Afro-Cuban Culture. author and editor
(Kingston and London: Ian Randle Publishers): 220 pp. Illus., glossary,
bibliography (revised and expanded).
1993. Cuban Festivals: An Illustrated Anthology. author and editor (New York and
London: Garland Publishing, Inc.) 250pp. Illus.; glossary; bibliography.
1988. Caribbean Festival Arts. co-authored by Judith Bettelheim and John Nunley
(Seattle: The Saint Louis Art Museum and University of Washington Press) 250
pp.166 illus., glossary, bibliography.
PUBLICATIONS: ARTICLES AND SELECTED CHAPTERS
2015 “Performing Religion: Folklore Performance , Carnaval and Festival in
Cuba,” in Caribbean Popular Culture: Power, Politics, and Performance, eds.
Aaron Kamugish and Yanique Hume, (Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers) pp. 469-482.
2013 “Grupo Antillano, revisited,” in Grupo Antillano, the Art of Afro-Cuba,
(Alejandro de la Fuente and the Caguayo Foundation, with the University of
Pittsburg Press) pp. 35-48.
2010 “From Masquerade to Fashion and Back,” in The Global African Project, (New
York: The Museum of Art and Design) pp. 162-167.
2010 “Espriritismo Altars in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil,” in Latin America in
the Black Atlantic, eds. Andrew Apter and Robin Derby, (Newcastle upon Tyne:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing) pp. 295-318.
2008 “Lam’s Caribbean Years: An Intercultural Dialogue” in Wifredo Lam at Miami
Art Museum, 2008. pp. 11-21.
2005 "Caribbean Espiritismo (Spiritist) Altars: The Indian and the Congo" in The
Art Bulletin, June. Vol. LXXXVII #2 (NY: College Art Association) pp. 312-330.
2001 “Palo Monte Mayombe and its influence on Contemporary Cuban Art”. African
Arts. Summer v. xxxiv #2. Pp. 36-49, 94-95.
1999 "Three Transnational Artists: José Bedia, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Keith
Morrison", International Review of African American Art vol.15 #3. pp. 43-48.
1997 "José Bedia Reflects on the Song of the Immigrant", in Crónicas Americanas,
Obras de José Bedia, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico. pp.
66-81.
1996 "His Essentialism", in Mi Essencialismo: José Bedia, The Douglas Hyde
Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, pp. 3-8.
SELECTED PUBLIC LECTURES
"Cuban Artists Wifredo Lam and José Bedia: Generations of Intercultural
Exchange," Vassar College, Latin American and Latino/a Studies, October 2015
The Haitian Presence in Cuban Festivals: Performing a National Transcript, The
John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, University of
Texas at Austin, October 2013
"Wifredo Lam in the Caribbean, An Intercultural Dialogue," Miami Art Museum, May
2008
“AfroCuba: Works on Paper,” Lowe Museum, University of Miami, Fla., January 2008
“The Reception of Caribbean Art," co-chair and discussant; College Art
Association national meeting, NYC February 2007
“AfroCuba: Aspects of a Revisionist Art History,” Indianapolis Museum of Art, in
conjunction with the opening of “AfroCuba: Works on Paper.” February 25, 2007
“José Bedia: Routes/Roots and the Studio,” for the panel “(Re)Claiming Africa in
the African Diaspora; 14th Triennial Symposium on African Art, Gainesville, FLA.
March 2007
“Haitian-Cubans or Cuban-Haitians, Performance as a Cultural Negotiation for
Eastern Cuba’s Immigrant Population,” University of Northern Illinois, Center
for Latino and Latin American Studies October, 2007
FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS
Tour leader: La Bienal de La Habana 2001, 2003; Festival of Caribbean Culture
2003; Art in Cuba 2008
The University of Iowa; Obermann Center for Advanced Studies Fellowship;" The
Arts and Cultural Politics of Carnival," Summer 2005
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, 1998
Lecturer to the Rockefeller Fellows participating in the" Caribbean 2000"
program at the University of Puerto Rico, March 1998
National Endowment for the Humanities seminar, invited faculty member,
"Performance and Text in Caribbean Literature and Art, University of Puerto
Rico, 1997
National Endowment for the Humanities, summer seminar: The Plantation Complex,
1993, Johns Hopkins University
National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute: African American
Performing Arts 1890-1990; at the American Dance Festival, 1991, Duke University
American Council of Learned Societies, (sabbatical year fellowship) $15,000 for
research on Cuban Carnaval (1989-1990)
$19,500 from NEH, NEA, and Rockefeller Foundation grants for my work as
co-curator of the exhibition "Caribbean Festival Arts" (through the Saint Louis
Art Museum) 1984-1988
Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowship: Fieldwork in the
Caribbean 1976 and write-up 1977
John NUNLEY and Judith BETTELHEIM, Caribbean Festival Arts, Seattle, University
of Washington Press, reviewed by Frank Manning 2/4/2022 : "This book can be
approached in terms of its genre, which I will here define as Coffee-Table
Anthropology. Oversized, glossy, bound in cloth, and handsomely dustjacketed, it
is a book in which the illustrations-161 of them, mostly in full color - hâve
the dominant impact. The book is a collector's item which is meant to be
displayed and viewed, much like the exhibit of Caribbean festival artifacts that
provided the occasion forits publication. The exhibit opened in December 1988 at
the St. Louis Art Muséum and is scheduled later to tour other US and Canadian
muséums."
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."
Activating The Past—event and edited volume 5/31/2012 EthnoCuba: "...many
of the essays prominently place Cuban history and ethnography within an
inter-Atlantic conversation. Thus, for instance, the first chapter, by Stephan
Palmié: “Ekpe/Abakuá in Middle Passage: Time, Space and Units of Analysis in
African American Historical Anthropology.” There are also Cuba-centered chapters
by art historian Judith Bettelheim, “Espiritismo Altars in Puerto Rico and Cuba:
The Indian and the Congo,” and Carrie Viarnes, “Muñecas and Memoryscapes:
Negotiating Identity and History in Cuban Espiritismo.” Surely, however, the
broader value of the volume is in (re)emplacing Cuba within wider currents,
histories, and movements."
A new Cuban connection: Lowe show on AfroCuba works is truly groundbreaking 1/21/2008 GG
Art: "At the Lowe Art Museum through Feb. 3, AfroCuba is an unusual and
extraordinary show -- most of the works are on loan from art institutions and
artists in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. The show was curated by art historian
Judith Bettelheim, who has written extensively about Caribbean art and culture
and done research in Cuba since 1985. Curatorial Assistance Inc. of Pasadena
arranged for the exhibit's U.S. tour. It comes to the University of Miami museum
from San Francisco State University."
Afro-Cuban Artistry 12/13/2007 Miami New Times: "The Lowe Art Museum lowers
the boom on the frantic citywide December art flurry with a pair of roundhouse
combinations delivering stunning Afro-Cuban art and a knockout selection of
works from one of America’s oldest art schools. “AfroCuba: Works on Paper,
1968-2003” features more than 60 prints and drawings by 26 artists from Havana
and Santiago de Cuba, marking the first time these artists have been grouped
together in a major exhibit off the island. The groundbreaking show includes a
broad range of subject matter and styles that underscore Cuba’s deep African
roots, the influence of Afro-Cuban religious imagery on that nation’s culture,
and reflections on Cuban politics and race as well as social relations today."
AfroCuba: Works on Paper, 1968-2003. Indianapolis Museum of Art. February 25,
2007-June 3, 2007. Reviewed by Edward M. Puchner 9/1/2007 Museum
Anthropology Review: "AfroCuba is of great importance to the people of Cuba
because of its constant redefinition. Using the entrance label to cautiously
discuss the term, the curator writes that it is “not exclusive in its
connotations” and “not an entity based on race.” It is understood as part of all
Cuban life, going well beyond the limits of visual arts. AfroCuba extends to a
wide range of cultural groups, such as Lucumí, Congo, Ararà, and Carabalí, all
identified as distinct within Cuban society. Within them, Bettelheim writes,
AfroCuba “is a reality based on a particular shifting set of historical and
cultural contributions” made by Cuban artists. The works of each artist shown
here are therefore all AfroCuban in how they demonstrate some distinct
intersection of Cuban historical experienceand African cultural belief."
Talk about "AfroCuba Through the Artist’s Lens" 2/25/2007 IndyBuzz: "The
kaleidoscope of the contemporary Cuban experience--rife with satire, politics,
and religion--becomes vivid in the Forefront exhibition, AfroCuba: Works on
Paper, 1968-2003. Dr. Judith Bettelheim, professor of art history at San
Francisco State University curated this thirty-five year chronicle of prints and
drawings in many styles and techniques by twenty-six artists from Havana and
Santiago de Cuba. In this talk, Dr. Bettelheim will provide context for viewing
these diverse artworks that present the complexity of Cuba’s military and
religious ties to Africa and offer vibrant critiques of contemporary race and
social relations."
Afrocuba Works on Paper, 1968-2003. Review by Midwest Book Review 12/1/2005 The
Free Library: "Bettelheim has put together a gallery of art works by 25 noted
younger, contemporary, Cuban artists. The closing section is on Belkis Ayon, who
died in 1999. A representative work of each of the artists faces a one-page
essay on him or her. Many of the pictured works are from the past year or two.
The oldest are from the 1970s. It's an eye-opening catalog displaying the
liveliness and imagination in Cuban art works on paper over the past 30 years.
One sees that Cuban art has not been retarded by U. S. efforts to ostracize
Cuban under the Castro regime; and that as far as its art goes, Cuba reflects
the latest in modern and contemporary art with respect to content and style, and
in some cases political and social perspective."
March 4 & 5, 2005: International Center for the Arts presents "To Cuba With
Love" 2/22/2005 SFSU: "To Cuba, With Love, the inaugural event of the new
International Center for the Arts (ICA) at San Francisco State University,
highlights a rich array of Cuban cultural tradition, music and visual arts March
4 and March 5 in San Francisco. The program opens with the West Coast AfroCuban
All-Stars, an ensemble of nationally and internationally renowned bandleaders
and stylists assembled specifically to venerate the inventor of Mambo, Israel
"Cachao" Lopez (Friday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. in the Forum at Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts; pre-concert talk at 7:45 p.m. - SOLD OUT). Also on the program, a
special guest appearance by Cachao, the ICA's first Marcus Prize winner for
Lifetime Achievement. Next, the art exhibition AfroCuba: Works on Paper,
1968-2003 opens on the SFSU campus (Saturday, March 5 at 11:30 a.m.). An all-day
event, the opening features music, dancing, film, Cuban food and a special music
and video installation."
Cuidado, con respeto 12/1/1995 ICAA - Documents of Latin American and
Latino Art: by Judith Bettelheim - "In this short essay on the work of Cuban
artist José Bedia, art historian Judith Bettelheim describes the artist as a
“transcultural citizen” who “speaks at the intersection of diverse
commentaries.” Bettelheim calls Bedia a postmodern artist because he collapses
the distinction between “high art” and “popular culture” in his work especially
through the integration of Afro-Cuban religious iconography, since he is a
practitioner of [santería] Palo Monte. She additionally discusses his
appropriation of different elements used as collage. Bettelheim concludes with
an analysis of how these elements are seen in a handful of Bedia’s works."
www.sfsu.edu/~artdept/FacSta/FacultyPages/Bettelheim.htm
www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Judith-Bettelheim-2061217679
Essay in Grupo Antillano: The Art of Afro-Cuba, Alejandro de la Fuente, editor
worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82087778/
clarkstown62.50megs.com/judithbettelheim.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/126005090@N02/
Spiritism in Cuba: syncretized spiritism, espiritismo cruzado
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