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The spicy history of Cuba has much to show
Joburg, with many similarities between Havana and the city of gold, as the
Without Masks art exhibition will explore.
CUBAN art and culture resembles that of
Johannesburg, says an animated Steven Sack, who soaked up some of that culture while
on a trip to the Caribbean island recently.
In conversation: Joburg's director of arts, culture and heritage Steven Sack in Cuba
Sack, who is the City’s director of arts, culture and heritage, says Havana, Cuba’s capital, mirrors Joburg in many other ways, including its religious dogmas, heritage and cosmopolitanism.
Through that trip, he says, collaborative efforts have been forged between the two cities; as a result, Joburg will host one of Cuba’s most compelling contemporary art exhibitions, ”Without masks”, later this year.
The exhibition, a new collection curated by Orlando Hernandez, the internationally renowned Cuban curator, is scheduled to open in May at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) and will run for the duration of the World Cup, which starts on 11 June and ends a month later. The opening of the exhibition will strategically coincide with Africa Day celebrations, but Sack says his department is still finalising preparations.
The exhibition comprises a range of work by Cuban artists, including films, photographs, sculptures and paintings. In essence, it explores complex issues and cultural concepts which are all reflective of modern-day Cuba.
It tackles Cuba’s diverse history, devotional religion, rich tapestry of arts and culture, politics, race and identity. “There is a great diversity of work coming through,” explains Sack.
History
The country’s arts and culture is complex and its captivating history dates back some six centuries. Before it was colonised by the Spanish, it was home to an aboriginal population that survived by fishing, hunting and gathering fruit. The Spanish brought with them African slaves.
Creative street art
Today, the island is a hybrid of African, European and Asian peoples and cultures, all living communally. It is the largest of the 7 000 Caribbean islands, islets, reefs and cays and was the last major Spanish colony to gain independence, following a 50-year struggle which began in 1850.
In the mid-20th century, the late South American revolutionary, Che Guevara, helped Fidel Castro to power, bringing Marxist ideals to the country and shaking off the US’s hold. As a result, his face is seen on merchandise across the island. All of this history is interpreted in the art exhibition.
Sack says the fascinating thing about the exhibition is that Joburgers will relish finding commonalities between these two cosmopolitan and different, yet so akin cities. “The fascinating thing is how Catholicism and Yoruba religions merged, and I think what is interesting about what is happening in South Africa today is how black South Africans and white South Africans are all seeking a new identity, and that new identity is a kind of an amalgam, a new form in which African practices and western practices begin to find a new kind of accommodation.”
In 1984, at the first Havana Biennial art exhibition, which was formed to promote Cuban art, there were less than 500 artists in the country. That number has more than doubled, sparking an expansion of the country’s visual arts.
Collection
In all, about 100 artefacts from 25 contemporary Cuban artists will be on display. Sack describes the works as “interesting”. Featured artists include practitioners of African-influenced religions and social commentators, some of whom portray compelling personal stories.
Artists tackle religion, politics, race,
identity ...
“These are artists who are dealing with religion, to a certain extent with politics, with issues of race, identity in very diverse and interesting ways.”
He believes the exhibition will imbue Joburgers with African mythology and help them define and engage with issues of African identity within an African context. “Some [artists] are involved in personal stories linked to social and political themes. Some of the artists deal literally with the city itself, Havana; other artists deal with religious themes of this very interesting case not only in Cuba but in South America of how West African religions and Catholicism merged,” he explains.
“The Spanish repressed the religions of the black slaves in the 1500s and West African religious practices, including those of the Yoruba, were not allowed to take place. What the slave community did was to develop a new kind of religion using Catholic iconography, Catholic saints, imbuing them with African identity, African mythology.”
He continues: “The [exhibits] are very relevant to Joburg because Joburgers will recognise a lot of their religious practices in the Santeria of many of the artists … [Santeria] is fascinating and is practised not only by Africans [but] by all kinds of people in Cuba, even people of Spanish descent.”
Santeria is a Caribbean religion composed of elements from traditional African religion and Roman Catholicism.
Different future
“For me, [the exhibition] begins to imagine a different future for South Africans where different race groups are closer together because we will start to form this new set of cultural practices and we will begin to accommodate one another.”
Ceremonial: beautifully crafted and decorated
Sack believes that some of the exhibits will be mind-compelling to a Joburg audience. “This ritual of slaughtering [is also common in Cuba]. There is sacrificial slaughter in all cultures and all religions but eventually we need to find forms of these practices that are not in violation of animal rights, that are contemporary and modern and I think that’s the message and the challenge the exhibition will bring to a Joburg audience.”
The Contemporary Cuba Art exhibition is being brought to Johannesburg through the private sponsorship of a family foundation, which has acquired the exhibits as part of its Cuban collection. It is hosted by the City and will also feature music and dance performances. Sack says details are still sketchy because preparations are ongoing. “We will try to bring musicians to the event as well and, no doubt, some rum and cigars,” he jokes.
His department will use Africa Day and the exhibition as a precursor to the entertainment scheduled for the duration of the World Cup. This year is the 47th Africa Day, observed annually across the continent on 25 May. It marks the establishment of the African Union and gives all Africans a platform to celebrate their commonalities, in a way that fosters camaraderie and social cohesion.
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