Blog #2 Artists Pushing For Change

Throughout the decades, art has been a very crucial part of Cuba’s culture and society. It has given the people a way to express themselves and given them a voice. Before the Revolution the art scene was widely diverse with influence from multiple cultures such as African, European, North and South American. Afterwards though, things became divided when some artists decided to leave Cuba in efforts to pursue their career in other countries where they had more access to dollars. Those who stayed had to create their art in limitation due to the censorship that came with being sponsored by the government. It’s sad to see how their art had gone from such expression and recognition of the different cultures present on the island to only being allowed to create art that followed along with the ideals of the government.

One of the artists mentioned in the videos, Wifredo Lam, I found interesting because of his bravery to create art that went against the social norm at the time. Wifredo was of Chinese and African decent but had not gotten in touch with his ancestral roots until he moved to Spain to study art. Once he returned back to Cuba in the 1940’s and saw how the blacks were being treated, he began painting politically and wanted to “awaken a sense of injustice in people,” as described by his son. It wasn’t common for people to admit that they were of African or Chinese descent and how he so fearlessly allowed his ancestry to influence how he painted is inspiring.

Another artist that caught my eye was Fidelio Ponce de Leon because of the truth he told in each of his paintings. His artwork told the story of how life actually was for most Cuban citizens. It depicted the sickness, poverty, and alienation that was prevalent in the 1930’s. He had an unruly life just like everyone else that included a desperate economic situation. He painted how he felt and that went along with how many others felt too, it was said to represent the national mood at the time. His piece titled “Niños” is a clear example of that. It was thought that children were associated with beauty and hope and when Fidelio painted a child in nature that shows a facial expression of clear sadness, it offered a very contrasting view to some of the other artwork.

An art piece described in the video Cuba: The Art Revolution created by the duo Los Carpinteros took a very direct route to say how they really felt about the Cuban government. The lighthouse is supposed to represent power in the country and is never on its side as that reflects suffering. Yet this particular piece represented a fall in power and that change needs to happen in the Cuban government. I was very surprised that it could be shown considering how strict the laws were about defying the government and all that the Revolution stood for.

On the topic of government censorship, the article about criminalization of the arts in Cuba was shocking to me how brutal it had become and this was just last year. The Cuban government had taken away so much of what made the arts scene a way for people to express themselves with Decree 349. Things like reggaeton were banned from radios and stores which was a very popular genre of music among the people. Life is so different in that respect compared to the United States which is why it’s so shocking to me that people have to go to such extremes in order to have free speech and freedom of expression in their art. For example, at one of the protest performances, artists intended to cover themselves in human excrement as a symbol of artists’ treatment by the government.

Do you think that artists’ efforts like Fidelio Ponce de Leon or Los Carpinteros pieces made an impact on the Cuban people to push for change? And do you believe that Decree 349 will continue to be upheld regardless of how many protests have been occurring in defiance of it?