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Soon
after 1959, photography in Cuba was in harmony with the social
and political projects of the revolution.
During the 60s, the subject became epic. It represented leaders
and struggles that guaranteed the survival of the revolution.
In the 70s the subjects came to be the everyday anonymous heroes
of the revolution.
Then in the early 80s, there began tension between artists and
cultural institutions. At the same time, visual artists started
using photography and their approach injected new ideas into the
medium and relaxed its boundaries. Cuban art started being relevant
in political terms. Photography was no longer subordinate to the
state ideology and it also offered a critical vision of society.
Some photographers started to depart from the photojournalist
tradition and created works that were accepted as an art form
by the avant-garde circles in visual arts. Photography was being
incorporated into multimedia and installations and it included
subjects not treated earlier, such as racial differences, marginality
and sexuality.
The work of Juan Carlos Alom, Kattia García, Marta María
Pérez, René Peña, and Manuel Piña
is based in this formidable impulse, keeps its commitment with
the artistic truth, and is independent from external impositions.
It shares the social concern and social statement but from a more
skeptical, less hopeful perspective. Now the collective point
of view doesn't seem to be as important as the individual testimony.
Eduardo Muñoz Ordoqui |
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