Parachute Nr. 125. Art Contemporain - Contemporary Art. La Habana

How are we to perceive contemporary art in a setting such as Havana? This island nation has been living under Fidel Castros regime since 1959, and yet it is not cut off from international movements. The geopolitics of contemporary art can no longer ignore what has been happening in Havana over the past two decades. Many artists even emigrated, especially in the 1980s and 90s; today, the art scene is increasingly diversified, with influential figures choosing to stay and work in Havana, principally, whether or not they also pursue an international career. The present moment is particularly interesting because it clearly occupies an in-between state politically and socially. The recent health problems of the countrys famous and omnipresent leader have brought about a delegation of power which suggests that a period of change is imminent. But what kind of change? No one is willing to risk a prediction in the current climate. Havana, a white and dilapidated stain facing the sea, lashed by immense waves licking at its ramparts, exists in a sort of suspended time, in a withering socio-political project increasingly overrun by the tourist industry and global culture.