Strolling along the Malecón one evening at dawn, I checked out the Detrás del Muro (Behind the Wall) exhibit, which occupies the fifteen-or-so block stretch between the Parque Maceo and La Punta. I was surprised and impressed to encounter dozens of eye-catching pieces of art. I had set out simply to see: was there really a Rio-de-Janeiro-style beach on the Malecón? And a skating rink! Those two shows were apparently drawing scores of Cubans away from their fans and Caso Cerrado, and into the sweltering, tree-barren streets of Centro Habana.
The twelfth Bienal de La Habana was inaugurated on May 22nd, 2015. A host of new structures have popped up in Havana’s iconic skyline, transformed under the theme “Between the Idea and Experience.” For the next month, the works of hundreds of Cuban and foreign artists will be on display, many of them spilling out of traditional cultural venues in Vedado, Habana Vieja, or Playa and into parks and squares throughout the city.
As I approached the Esquina Fría on the corner of Malecón and Belascoaín, a DJ played electronic music while those patient enough to have waited in (a long) line strapped on ice skates glided/wobbled along the mini-rink in the twenty minutes allotted to them. Curious spectators, like me, watched on. New York artist Duke Riley is behind the work. The skating rink, which is made of a material that mimics the qualities of ice but does not melt in the Caribbean heat, is part of Riley’s study of the history of ice rinks in Cuba in the mid-1900s, according to the state newspaper, Granma.
I kept on walking. About ten blocks away I encountered the other much-talked-about attraction: the Malecón’s very own sand beach. Outfitted with plastic beach chairs and thatch umbrellas, Cuban artist Arlés de Río’s “Resaca” is the talk of the town. It even made front page in Granma. “It’s like Brasil,” commented one smiling beach-goer. Though swimming has been prohibited in the Malecón for years, curious visitors flocked to the little stretch between Gervasio and Crespo to check out the novelty, snap pictures, or just to say they have been there.
There is more: other less boisterous pieces were equally thought-provoking. One is the “yellow brick road” (actually a wood road) that pops up in the Parque Maceo and climbs over the famous seawall to disappear into the fateful waters beyond. I think it calls for each of us to think critically about where the magical road leads, the dangers that one encounters along the way, and the machinations of a bigger-than-life “Oz” behind the curtain.
Another work making reference to the complex relationship between the U.S. and Cuba is Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi’s piece, Obstáculos. It consists of a collection of red and white poles, each with segments of blue decorated with stars—clearly alluding to the US flag—heaped in a seemingly disorganized pile right in front of the waters that separate this small Caribbean island from its neighbor to the north. The title speaks for itself.
Further on, another noteworthy work that engages the relationship between life on and outside the island are three wooden lifeguard stands, which spectators are free to climb. The title is “Project Salvation.” Cuban artist Duvier del Dago’s says this refers to “liberty” of a state or condition that is not desired” and explains that his intention was for the spectator to encounter these objects outside of their normal context, in a space where, “simbólicamente, mucho ha necesitado de un salvavidas.”
Finally, also in the Malecón is one of my favorite works is “Balance Cotidiano de la Suerte” (Daily Lucky Balance). It consists of a cube with images of houses along the Malecón, balancing precariously on one of its tips on a small circular piece of water. This work is the result of two years of Bolivian-Spanish artist Pilar Rubí’s living with various families and documenting their daily lives.
These works invite viewers to reflect on the city, often alluding to topics too taboo for explicit conversation.
[All images by Martina Kunovic]
May 28. 2105
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