U.S.-Cuba thaw may transform arts

U.S.-Cuba thaw may transform arts
Carolina A. Miranda, TNS 8:39 p.m. PST January 3, 2015

When President Obama announced plans recently to restore diplomatic
relations with Cuba, a bevy of U.S. industries — from automotive to
tourism — seemed elated by the possibility of being able to operate in
Cuba. The news was greeted with just as much enthusiasm from the culture
industry: "Art Collectors Predict 'Stampede' to Cuba," read one
newspaper headline. Another trumpeted: "Renewed ties hit a high note for
Cuban music lovers."

Grammy-winning producer, musician and composer Andres Levin, who is
generally based in New York, happened to be in Havana for the announcement.

"It was extremely emotional," he wrote via email from Cuba. "An air of
hope and positive change was felt all over the city, from the streets to
the offices. We're still celebrating."

The anticipated diplomatic thaw, along with a possible lifting or easing
of the decades-long U.S. embargo, could transform how U.S. artists and
cultural organizations can operate in Cuba — and how Cuban artists and
their respective groups can work in the U.S.

"We don't really know yet what will happen," says the executive director
of New York's Bronx Museum, Holly Block, who landed in Havana on the day
the announcement was made. "But I think restrictions on cultural
exchange projects will be a priority for both sides. It's really exciting."

Block, in fact, is in Havana because she's trying to work out an
exchange between her institution and Cuba's Museo Nacional de Bellas
Artes (MNBA; National Fine Arts Museum). The idea is that works from the
Bronx Museum's permanent collection will go on view at the MNBA during
the 12th Havana Biennial, which opens in late May. This would be
followed, in 2016, with a show of works from the Cuban museum's
collection in New York.

"As part of it, we're bringing (artist) Mary Mattingly here for a
project, so she'll be here working on charettes and different
workshops," Block adds. "We're also helping the museum start a teen
program."

It appears that politicos are finally getting around to doing what
artists have been doing for years: that is, prying apart a hidebound
piece of Cold War policy by finding opportunities to work together in
ways that promote greater exchange between the two nations.

Though the U.S. embargo prohibits Americans from trading with Cuba, the
Berman Amendment of 1988 (sponsored by former U.S. Rep. Howard Berman)
allows the exchange of information, which includes records, photographs,
songs, drawings and other art. This means that while it's impossible to
bring a box of Cuban cigars into the U.S. (a commercial product), it is
possible to import a painting (information).

So even as U.S. and Cuban politicians have given each other the cold
shoulder over the years, artists and arts organizations have found ways
to connect.

In fact, there has been a long, if bureaucratically complicated,
tradition of cultural exchange between Cuba and the U.S., one that ebbs
and flows according to the politics of each presidential administration.

For years, Cuban artists have shown their work in U.S. museums, danced
on U.S. stages and jammed in U.S. nightclubs. The artist Kcho had a
major exhibition of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los
Angeles in 1997; singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez played New York's
Carnegie Hall in 2010. And there have been countless other Cuban
nationals hosted by U.S. venues, despite the embargo, including the
singers of the Buena Vista Social Club, the grooving big band Los Van
Van and the legendary ballerina Alicia Alonso.

In recent years, the traffic has gone the other way, with American
musicians and artists of all stripes, including Cuban American theater
troupes, spending time in Cuba, marinating in the country's traditions
while curators, art collectors and producers regularly descend on Havana
to scour the city for new talent.

The Havana Biennial, which is held in locations around the Cuban capital
every two to three years (it's a biennial in name only), has become a
pit stop on the international art circuit.

And last week, "Rent" became the first Broadway production on the island
in roughly 50 years. It is produced by Robert Nederlander Jr. (a member
of a renowned Broadway producing clan) and is directed by Andy Senor, a
Cuban American who starred in the original musical back in the 1990s.
The show will run for three months and the entry fee will be 50 cents.

"It's more about enjoyment and education than money," Nederlander told a
British daily.

The announcements by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro won't affect
the particulars of any of these projects in progress. But the move does
have many people in the cultural sphere considering what might be
artistically possible between the two countries down the line.

"The first thing is that high-quality exhibitions of U.S. artists in
Cuba is not something that they've been able to have very much of,"
Block says. "The second thing that changes is that right now we're only
seeing some artists. Many Cuban artists have to go through Europe to get
to the U.S. and have to wait a long time for permission to enter."

Easier access for Cuban artists, says Block, will expand the range of
Cuban art to see in the U.S. The same goes for the music industry.

"There is a new generation of artists that are hungry," says Levin,
"while also blessed with extraordinary music preparation thanks to the
education benefits."

Levin, who is married to Cuban-born Latin fusion songstress Cucu
Diamantes, has put together a number of events in Cuba in recent years.
Last month, he staged the first-ever TEDx event in Havana, which was two
years in the making. And, in 2010, he helped organize Diamantes' tour of
Cuba (he plays guitar in her band), which featured guest appearances
from Cuban musicians such as trumpeter Alexander Abreu and the rumba
band Los Munequitos de Matanzas.

"Even though visits and licensed projects with Cuba have been possible
for a few years now," Levin says, "with wider possibilities, they will
generate a lot more activity."

Source: U.S.-Cuba thaw may transform arts -
http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/arts/2015/01/03/arts-cuba-united-states-thaw/21251219/