Havana, Cuba
March 27-31, 2009
Havana's 2009 Biennial
Havana, Cuba
February 9-30, 2009
Congreso Informática 2009
Palacio de las Convenciones
Havana, Cuba
November 19–December 30, 2008
Centro Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Majadahonda Gallery
Maracaibo, Venezuela
October 2–9, 2008
VII Salón de Arte Digital
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia
San Luis de Potosí, Mexico
August 29-September 30, 2008
Galería del Hábitat / Edificio de Posgrado de la Facultad del Hábitat
Miami, FL
May 8-21, 2008
New World School of the Arts
Denver, CO
October 11, 2007
AIGA Design Conference
Flushing, NY
June 25-August 9, 2007
Goodwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College
Phoenix, AZ
April 26, 2007
McMurray
Vancouver, BC Canada
February 1, 2007
Canadian Premiere at the
GDC/BC and Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design
Teaneck, NJ
April 7, 2007
The Puffin Foundation
Chicago, IL
October 9, 2006
Peace Museum
www.peacemuseum.org
Seattle, WA
August 3, 2006
School of Visual Concepts
www.svcseattle.com
Seattle, WA
July 1, 2006
The Icograda Design Week
University of Washington
San Diego, CA
March, 11, 2006
Warp 9 Imaging
www.w9imaging.com
Los Angeles, CA
October 15 2005
epOxybOx Gallery
Venice, CA
photo gallery
Cuban and American Graphic Artists Share Dreams
Juventud Rebelde www.cubaheadlines.com
Challenging the policies dictated in Washington, they have exchanged ideas and fomented the ties of friendship for five years. The guitar and Trova music were the reason this time. Soon the photographic perspectives of the instrument were studied and its strings touched; people also with listened to the “intelligent” musical form, which the guitar faithfully accompanies. Email served as the connection; it was the communications bridge that allowed for the sharing of the ten-year-old dream to design a “clean guitar.” The main characters of this peculiar idea are Cuban and American graphic designers. They have become friends, and at the same time critics of their own work thanks to the “Compartiendo Sueños” (Sharing Dreams) project.
The initiative —undertaken by Cuba’s Pablo de la Torriente Brau Cultural Center and the Association of Graphic Design, from the country to the north— turned five in 2008. The groups celebrated that anniversary with the exhibition “Sharing Dreams 5,” which was celebrated at the Havana arts institution that served to provide the American group with a space to contribute to Trova music.
With an emphasis on color, lines and words, 18 posters have been created that reflect the visions of these graphic artists. In the Pablo Center’s Majadahonda Room, these pieces are on exhibition and can be appreciated through December 30.
Victor Casaus, the director of the cultural institution and one of the organizers of Sharing Dreams, affirms that his organization energetically accepted the proposal by Cubans to pay homage to the art form of the local troubadours—focusing on the guitar. “The early part of the project, when we were exchanging emails, was very important for us. We not only shared the designs, but also our tastes in music; and that’s how they got to learn a little about the ‘New Trova’ form,” said Casaus. He described the project as “very personal,” and based on strong friendship and mutual respect for professional work. “Over this half a decade,” he indicated, “there have been several themes that we sketch graphically, such as love, peace, and design in culture; this last theme was dealt with in 2007, at the ICOGRADA graphics arts conference in Havana.
Victor recalled that the project began in 2003 under the administration Bush, which is now almost out of office. Last year that government gave the cultural initiative a direct body blow when it denied visas to both Héctor Villaverde and Casaus himself. They had planned to attend one of the activities organized by Sharing Dreams in New York City. Toni O’Bryan, the American coordinator, recognizes the difficulty in accomplishing an activity like this. However, “With a lot of help and effort we have been able to come here in every year,” she said. For O’Bryan, what is key is persistence and the desire of strengthen bonds with her Cuban counterparts, those who overcome obstacles. To her, what this sensitive and very human project shows is that “anything is possible.”
If you’d like information about other possible exhibition sites near you, please e-mail designpartnerships@xcd.aiga.org or volunteers@xcd.aiga.org.