Behind the Wall returns to the Havana Malecón

Behind the Wall returns to the Havana Malecón

HAVANA, March 21 The Havana Malecón provided its space again for the second stage of Detrás del Muro at the 14th Havana Biennial.Just yesterday afternoon the Homage exhibition was inaugurated, a collective exhibition of artists who have collaborated with the project since its creation and whose main purposes are to honor the 10th anniversary of Behind the Wall, as well as the life and work of its founder and main organizer Juan Delgado Calzadilla.

The JJ Folkloric Company and the Rosario Cárdenas Company marked the opening of the exhibition that is made up of large-scale pieces located throughout the Malecón to Antonio Maceo Park.

According to its organizers, this year they do not have the same number of pieces as in previous editions, but those that are exhibited represent the world reality and mainly that of art on the island.

The curators of this second stage of Behind the Wall are Pepe Fernández, Sandra García and Neida Peñalver, and the participating artists are Arián Írsula (Cuba), Arlés del Río (Cuba), Esterio Segura (Cuba), José Emilio Fuentes (Cuba) , Lianet Martínez (Cuba), Medialuna (Cuba), Parenthesis (Leandro Mompié and Antonio López Vega) (Cuba), Yaily Martínez (Cuba), Yudith Vidal Faife (Cuba), Bernardo Medina (Puerto Rico), Cisco Merel (Panama) , Emmanuel Moses (Panama), José María Mellado (Spain) and Yves Sadurni (Mexico).

Materials ranging from stainless steel to fabrics can be seen in the pieces, in addition to interventions in some spaces of the Malecón wall and plastic works on the walls of buildings that were icons of the project in previous biennials.

Detrás del Muro is a socio-cultural project that emerged in 2012 as a special project and has been especially recognized for the high impact it has had on the community inhabiting the intervened space, as well as among the specialized public for the variety of artistic proposals presented in each one of its editions, the interactive character, and its convening capacity.

His vision is to use art as a tool for socio-cultural transformation with a broad impact on different communities and to be a cultural epicenter in the Havana area.

 

Behind the Wall returns to the Havana Malecón
Behind the Wall returns to the Havana Malecón
Behind the Wall returns to the Havana Malecón

The Havana Biennial, for its part, is organized by the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, and in this edition it changed its usual format from one month to a period of almost six months, divided into three phases from November 2021 until April 2022. According to its organizers, about 300 artists from various countries around the world are participating in the event.

With the title “Future and contemporaneity” this 14th edition began, which opened its doors after being postponed by Covid 19 and despite the controversies that accompanied its organization.

Since the decision of its organizers to hold the event was announced, a group of artists began a campaign on social networks with the idea that the Biennial should not be held due to the arrests of artists and opposition activists that occurred in Havana in 2019 and 2020.

On the other hand, another group of creators and organizations favorable to the Cuban authorities offered their public support to this event and called on the artistic community to join it.

The last phase of the Havana Biennial will be entitled “Return to the future” and will take place from March 25 to April 30 with a curatorial exhibition divided into various nuclei or projects.

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