The Spaces Between: Contemporary Art from Havana

As opined by the book’s title, this is a publication focused toward the shared spaces and communal sensibilities of a city, rather than an attempt to survey the entire contemporary output of this anomalous nation. In essence, the study is a concentrated one of modern Havana, taking note of those artistic, cultural, socioeconomic and anthropological influences on its art scene without intent to become pedagogic in the process.

Including major contemporary figures such as Juan Carlos Alom, Celia y Junior and Eduardo Ponjuan, The Spaces Between discusses the modern current of unfocused politicisation within the work, where issues of money, identity and bureaucracy are garnered from each viewers reading and imagination of suggestion, a reflection of the current emphasis on the spectator as contributor to making meaning.

Published in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, the book maintains the ambient approach of the partnering exhibition in an attempt to depict the context of Havana artists in the modern era. In part it discusses the lo-tech necessities of modern artists working in the city today, which has formed if not a coherent style, then a municipal approach to the process. As such, much of the work uses recycled materials or simple video and text-based elements to convey its meaning in a manner more diverse and ambiguous than prior generations of Cuban artists.