CUBANEO
PRESS RELEASE
Villa Victoria Center for the Arts is pleased to present Mark Guglielmo: Cubaneo, a traveling exhibition of photo-collage murals, interviews, and field recordings curated by David Guerra running from October 6—27, 2017.
Guglielmo’s images are a record of the ethnic and cultural heterogeneity that characterizes the Cuban people by going beyond what is commonly defined today as Cuban. Cubaneo is the term used in Cuba to refer not to the Cuban identity but to the ways that identity is expressed. Cubaneo then includes all the idiosyncrasies of Cubans including its reflection in Cubans’ unique contemporary language. While access to what’s Cuban may be achieved without even visiting the island, exposure to Cubaneo can only be achieved in Cuba, immersed and surrounded by Cubans. Only then can their behavior, including negative attitudes, their interactions and aspirations, their feelings and ways of being and living reveal itself. These mosaics capture the essence of Cubaneo, leaving behind the foreign and naïve views often used by other photographers looking to depict this island and its people.
For this project, Guglielmo visited Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa, Havana, and Viñales shortly before and after President Obama’s landmark trip to Cuba in March 2016, the first by a sitting US President in 88 years. In February 2017, Guglielmo returned to the island, this time to Cienfuegos and Trinidad, just two months after the death of Fidel Castro. An homage to Cuba at this historic moment, this project chronicles a dynamic and rich culture full of heart and soul.
Each mosaic is handmade by taping together hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual photographs. Neither a computer nor Photoshop is used. Culled from dozens of audio interviews, Guglielmo recorded in Spanish diverse Cuban voices and perspectives, which will be part of the exhibition. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery. It debuted in Northampton, Massachusetts in June 2017 and has since become the most attended show in the 45-year history of A.P.E. Gallery with over 3,500 visitors in 26 days. It also travelled to The Loveland Museum in Loveland, Colorado, The von Auersperg Gallery at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and Grubbs Gallery at The Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
Las imágenes de Mark Guglielmo son un registro de la heterogeneidad étnica y cultural que caracteriza al pueblo cubano, trascendiendo lo que comúnmente se define hoy como cubano. El término "cubaneo" no se refiere a la identidad cubana, sino a las formas en que esta se expresa. El término "cubaneo" abarca todas las idiosincrasias de los cubanos, incluyendo su reflejo en el singular lenguaje contemporáneo cubano. Si bien el acceso a lo cubano puede lograrse sin siquiera visitar la isla, la exposición al "cubaneo" solo se logra en Cuba, inmerso y rodeado de cubanos. Solo entonces se revela su comportamiento, incluyendo sus actitudes o conductas, sus interacciones y aspiraciones, sus sentimientos y formas de ser y vivir. Estos mosaicos capturan la esencia del "cubaneo", dejando atrás las visiones extranjeras e ingenuas que suelen utilizar otros fotógrafos que buscan retratar esta isla y su gente.