Art & Culture

CUBA!

By Susanne Katz

The Other Side by Jose Luis Farinas

Familiar images of Cuba include cigars and old cars, Che and Fidel, sugar cane and coffee. Recently there has been an increased interest in Cuban art, fueled by the island's efforts to promote tourism and its cultural heritage. For some Americans, joining a humanitarian mission has been a way to discover the beauty and culture that have been off-limits to American citizens. I joined a humanitarian mission in 2005 to visit the Jewish community and, I hoped, to find a Jewish Cuban artist to exhibit in Atlanta. Was there such a thing?

Rembrandt Variation XIX by Jose Luis Farinas

Jose Luis Farinas

Through my friend Miriam Saul and a Jewish-Cuban photographer, Tatiana Santos Mendez, I discovered Jose Luis Farinas and brought a small exhibition of his work to the Fine Family Art Gallery at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. That could have been the end of the story, but somehow I sensed that there was so much more to learn.

So in December I returned to Havana, again with a humanitarian group from Atlanta, and again met with Farinas, this time at Havana's Melia Cohiba Hotel. Born in 1972 to Spanish-Cuban-Jewish parents, Farinas is a painter and illustrator. The artist had brought fine brush watercolors to include in an upcoming traveling exhibition that I would curate, and I asked him about his Jewish heritage. Farinas explained, "My grandparents left Spain's Sephardic community to settle in Cuba. Though not active in Cuba's Jewish community, my mother taught me stories and customs from our Jewish heritage. I was fascinated with Kabbalah and its mysticism."

Semihuman creatures with faces, hands, feet and wings make up Farinas' miniature universes. The creatures connect, entangle and transform while revealing new shapes and hidden references taken from the Old Testament, from the mysteries unveiled by the Book of Genesis, and "revealed through a new light, as the Kabbalah says."

Often Farinas' characters travel by boat. Is this a biblical reference to Noah's Ark, one wonders, or is it a contemporary reference to the 90 miles that separate Cuba from Key West?

Eggs are recurrent cyclical references that seem to return the artist to "the instant before the unmistakable act of creation and rupture." Farinas seems to transform both time and space in his struggle to relate chaos and the order of life. We cannot always be sure of where his fantasy ends and his reality begins. A traveling exhibition of Cuban work, planned for 2008 through 2010, includes 22 fine brush watercolors by Farinas.

Cuba's Contemporary Art

Havana's biennials have showcased emerging artists from developing countries and a new generation of Cuban artists. The Seventh Havana Biennial took place in 2000-2001. In an environment of contrasts, visitors are able to see works by artists that might not otherwise be seen.

From the colonial period to the revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuban artists have commented on their history, on Cuban identity, and on its blend of Hispanic and African heritages. Contemporary work can be vibrant, folksy, surrealistic or abstract, and a visitor to Cuba today may find a variety of museums, galleries and artists' studios to explore.

In Montreal, through June 8, visitors can see an exhibition of Cuban art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Canadians are the largest population of tourists to Cuba, and many of the works were lent by Havana's National Museum of Fine Arts.

Jewish Cuba

There are abundant photographs that document the politics, history and culture of Cuba. Tatiana Santos Mendez has captured Jewish Cuba in black-and-white photographs. Three of these images, from the Patronato, documenting Jewish life in Cuba, will travel with the exhibition. It is said that the Jewish community in Cuba is now a mere 1,500. Generations of Jews have intermarried. The synagogues depend heavily on humanitarian supplies. It is difficult to forecast the future of this small Jewish community.

Cuba has an exotic beauty. It is a blend of historic and cultural contrasts. It is the 5-mile-long Malecon, palm trees (the national tree), the Jewish-themed Hotel Raquel, Afro-Cuban influences, Fuster's folk art environment and a thousand dogs. No wonder it seems so difficult to make order out of chaos. Just this morning I was awakened by the news report that 81-year-old Fidel Castro has officially ended his almost 50-year rule. What should we expect from Raul? How will Havana's artists respond?

Susanne Katz curates art and sits on the board of the Marcus JCC. She writes regularly about art for Julep.