Sharing Dreams/Compartiendo Sueños 2007:
Design in Culture/Diseño en Cultura

Hector Villaverde

For many years I have used in my design images taken out of its original context, appropriating them to express my idea and objectives. I have used old engravings and photographs and as many images as I’ve found. Lately I have also used the old images from Clickart.

Clickart was relatively popular in the beginning of design programs about 15 years ago, and for a time it appeared that we were on our way to standardize the creativity of the designer through the computer. The very notion was ridiculous and soon Clickart became outdated.

On this occasion I have used two samples of Clickart manipulating them to express my ideas that design and culture should walk together and in loving harmony. I do it in a ludic sense, emphasizing the almost kitsch character of these drawings.
I only hope to communicate my ideas and attract attention to the subject.

Bio

In the 1960s Villaverde designed many posters for the National Council of Culture and studied Graphic Design in Warsaw, Poland. He was artistic director of Cuba Internacional magazine for ten years and has designed more than 300 books for the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC).

From 1987 to 1997 he was professor of the Higher Industrial Design Institute. He has offered lectures in Mexico, Chile, Switzerland, Italy, Puerto Rico and Bolivia. He was a jury in the First Latin American Biennial Poster Exhibition in La Paz, Bolivia, in 2003. That same year he received a tribute in Mexico, together with the Cuban designers René Azcuy, Eduardo Muñoz Bachs and Antonio Pérez.
He has worked in Graphic Design in Cuba for more than 20 years, organizing exhibits, workshops, lectures and various gatherings, among them the First ICOGRADA Meeting for Latin America in June 2001.

He has received more than 25 awards during his career and three years ago he received the Raœl Martinez National Graphic Design Award for his life work. He also received the Por la Cultura Nacional award. He is head of design at the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Center and a free lance designer.