Biennial with salt air | The Montreal Journal

A few weeks ago, I spoke to you about the Havana Arts Biennial, on the occasion of the visit to Cuba of the young sculptor Alexis Vaillancourt, who had been invited by the Cuban Association of Artisans and Artists of the city of Matanzas to create an original work within the framework of the XV^e Havana Biennial, an unmissable event for lovers of modern art, which began on November 15 under the theme “Shared Horizons”.

Havana is not Venice, where another prestigious biennial is taking place in its time, but Havana has a pretty and impressive waterfront, the Malecon, swept by sea salt, a place for all meetings and discoveries. Once again, the Malecon serves as an open-air art gallery for the exhibition of original works, some created on site and intended to remain there after February 28, the day the Biennale ends. These works, scattered here and there, on both sides of the waterfront, beautify the city by adding colors, questions, provocations and smiles.

For Quebecers staying for a week or more in Varadero this winter, an excursion of a day or two to Havana is essential, especially for lovers of modern art. After your stroll on the Malecon to discover and photograph the works exhibited there, an expedition through the streets of Old Havana will satisfy the explorer in you. Start at Plaza San Francisco, on Avenida del Puerto, and from there head towards Plaza Vieja. You will discover the original work of the German sculptor Martin Steinert, entitled Wooden Clouds/The Architecture of Wishes (Wooden clouds/The architecture of desires, see photo). You are invited to leave a sentence, a word, a signature, a date on one of the many wooden pallets that form the sculpture.

All around and inside this magnificently restored square – it served as a school and model for students in the restoration of historic buildings – there are restaurants with terraces, refreshment bars, coffee roasters, art galleries, music , street entertainment, etc. It’s hard to resist all these offers. Walking through the narrow, shaded streets adjoining this square, you will discover a multitude of art galleries, museums and parks where works – photos, videos, paintings, sculptures, installations – by Cuban artists and artists are also on display. elsewhere part of the Biennale.

You will return to your all-inclusive hotel in Varadero, your head full of these images stored somewhere in your brain, with the impression of having participated, in your own way, in this collective work that is the Havana Biennale.

Some still criticize the Cuban government for spending funds to organize this cultural happening which takes place over more than three months, when there are so many needs in terms of food and housing, among other things. Furthermore, abandoning the Biennale, which takes place every two years, is a bit like abandoning artists to their fate, or depriving them of the necessary influence, of a forum where they can make themselves known at the national and international levels, what is characteristic of every artist: to break through, deliver their message, disseminate their artistic practice, create links. We would then criticize the Cuban government for not encouraging its artists, for doing nothing to promote them.

If Mayor Plante decided to relaunch the Montreal Biennale, and therefore to invest in the visual arts and its artists, would we blame her for misinvesting our tax money? When it comes to sports infrastructure… no problem. But when it comes to the arts, it’s more difficult to swallow the financial pill.

Here in Cuba, there will always be detractors who denigrate the government. Whether he does too much or not enough. In a context of economic and commercial blockade which has lasted for more than 60 years, it is not easy to navigate such choppy waters. But the Havana Biennial is fortunately here to stay, as the most important visual arts event in this hemisphere.