Blog #3: Opening Doors

The reading materials in the last module comprised of many political artists. Their backlash to the restrictions that Cuba had on expression has led to more openness regarding artistic ideas. Yanet the cellist, Rodriguez the street artist, and JR and José Parlá of Wrinkles of the City, all had similar reasons for creating their art. To understand Yanet, Cuban music education must first be understood. Music education in Cuba is widely encouraged. In Music Education in Cuba: After the Revolution, it is stated that, “music education is a priority” (00:37). In Cuba, children are taught instruments and music starting at the age of 6. What differs about Yanet’s story than other young Cuban musicians is that she does not comply completely with what is expected of her. First of all, she plays the cello which is not a popular instrument in Cuba. Secondly, rather than sticking with classical music, as her professors at university want her to do, she follows her passion. She finds pop and rock to be what drives her creativity in music. Instead of letting the “norm” of Cuba influence her, she listens to herself and doesn’t limit herself to one genre. Although Rodriguez’s art is completely different than Yanet’s, their drive to create is similar. At the start of Rodriguez’s career, he had stage fright for putting his art on such public display. This is due to the fact that Cuba is not used to street art, and is therefore skeptical of what it could bring. Instead of creating art that is more similar to that of Cuban history, Rodriguez attempts to “add color and aesthetic qualities back to the city as it crumbles” (The Haunting Street Art…). In addition to attempting to change the landscape of the city, Rodriguez also tries to find the most visible parts of the city to paint on so that he can receive the largest audience. Clearly he has gotten over his stage fright. Even though Cuban government was fearful of unregulated street art, Rodriguez doesn’t stop creating what he loves. The two artists JR and José Parlá are similar to Rodriguez in the way that they are creating street murals, but their motives and ideas are very different. The way that these two artists are attempting to change the status quo has to do with the subjects they choose. Rather than painting politicians such as Che and Fidel, as other street art portrays, their goal is to give the public a voice. For the biennial, they decide to plaster pictures of 25 random citizens of Cuba who have survived the Revolution. They feel as though it is time to tell the story of the people and not of the government. This idea is so different than anything before because, as JR and José Parlá state, “when they (the public) see our portraits, people think they are just old singers… but we explain to them that they are just old people that we met in the street” (Wrinkles of the City…, 05:37-05:43). Since these two artists are going against the status quo, they are questioning what has been done before them. JR, José Parlá, Yanet, and Rodriguez all go against what has been done before them in order to open new doors and options in the Cuban artistic scene.