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108-731: The event was founded in 1984. It takes place in Havana ( Cuba ) every two years. It principally aims at promoting the developing world in contemporary art circles, giving priority to Latin American and Caribbean artists, although artists from all over the world submit works. Since its first edition in 1984, the Biennial event has had central themes, among them tradition and contemporary times, challenges, art, society and reflection, man and memory, life with art and urban life. Works emphasize mainly paintings and other two-dimensional displays, using

216-491: A novel written by Cardinal Wiseman , Fabiola regained popularity in the middle of the nineteen century. Alÿs acquired copies of Fabiola portraits painted by amateurs in flea markets and antiques stores, in places as various as Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Holland, Germany, Lebanon and Russia. The paintings have been left in their original state. The artists, dates, and places of origin are often unknown. Alÿs explained his interest in these widely produced replicas: 'It made me question

324-527: A tropical climate . In 1514, Diego Velázquez founded the city San Cristóbal de la Habana, which meant " Saint Christopher of the Habana". Habana was the name of the local people group. It has been theorized that the name derived from Habaguanex , who was a chief of the Native American tribe. His name is Taíno , an Arawakan language , but nothing else is known. When Habana was adapted into English,

432-679: A tropical monsoon climate ( Am ). Average temperatures range from 22 °C (72 °F) in January and February to 28 °C (82 °F) in August. The temperature seldom drops below 10 °C (50 °F). The lowest temperature was 1 °C (34 °F) in Santiago de Las Vegas, Boyeros. The lowest recorded temperature in Cuba was 0 °C (32 °F) in Bainoa, Mayabeque Province (before 2011

540-545: A "road trip" that concludes with the Lada car crashing into a tree in the courtyard of the Hermitage. The Silence of Ani was realized in 2015 with a group of teenagers of Kars, Turkey. It takes place on the present Turkish-Armenian border in the once Armenian City of Ani which, after centuries of successive invasions and sackings, lies today in a state of total abandon and decay. Alÿs gave instruments to imitate birds—birdcalls—to

648-749: A British invasion of 30,000 sailors. Construction began on what was to become the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña , the third biggest Spanish fortification in the New World after Castillo San Cristóbal (the biggest) and Castillo San Felipe del Morro both in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On 15 January 1796, the remains of Christopher Columbus were transported to the island from Santo Domingo . They rested there until 1898, when they were transferred to Seville's Cathedral , after Spain's loss of Cuba. As trade between Caribbean and North American states increased in

756-713: A broader curatorial work and extended its scope including the presence of artists from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Some 700 artists from 56 countries participated. The main objective of this edition was to position the event in the Third World. It also consolidated itself as a meeting place for "non-Western" artists. The artists awarded in this biennial were José Bedia Valdés , Carlos Capelán , Alberto Chissano , Jogen Chowdury , Joaquín Lavado (Quino), Lani Maestro , Manuel Mendive , Antonio Ole , Marta Palau , José Tola. Subject: Tradition and Contemporaneity in

864-718: A classical pianist (Alexander Rovang), and a soprano (Viktoria Kurbatskaya). In the project Don't Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River (2008), a line of kids with shoe boats leaves Europe towards Morocco while a line of kids with shoe boats leaves Africa towards Spain, with the 2 lines eventually meeting on the horizon. As in many of Alÿs' video projects, his collaborators were Rafael Ortega, Julien Devaux, Felix Blume and Ivan Boccara. For Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg, Alÿs contributed with Lada Kopeika Project (2014),

972-582: A color, and a type of rabbit as well as the city. Havana is the prevailing name for the city found in English-language dictionaries. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founded Havana in 1514, on the southern coast of the island, near the present town of Surgidero de Batabanó on the banks of the Mayabeque River close to Playa Mayabeque . However, all attempts to found a city on Cuba's south coast failed; an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places

1080-546: A complex web of relationships, coherent in some cases, chaotic in others, but undoubtedly essential in the landscape of everyday life. Topics such as demographic implosion, traditions and informal economy, urban transformations operated by real estate companies associated with tourism, the multicultural city, accelerated urbanization, uncontrolled urban growth, advertising saturation, poverty and gentrification, ruralization, and culinary culture and identity were developed. There were also urban interventions in streets, bus stops and, to

1188-407: A diverse body of artwork and performance art that explores urban tensions and geopolitics. Employing a broad range of media, from painting to performance, his works examine the tension between politics and poetics, individual action and impotence. Alÿs commonly enacts paseos —walks that resist the subjection of common space. Cyclical repetition and mechanics of progression and regression also inform

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1296-572: A lesser extent, interactive ones such as the itinerant project Museo Peatonal (Pedestrian Museum). 113 artists from 49 countries participated in the event. Subject: Integration and Resistance in the global era Director: Rubén Del Valle It was held from March 27 to April 30, 2009, within the framework of the 25th anniversary of the event. Experts from the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center reviewed more than 400 proposals submitted by artists from 44 nations. For

1404-430: A personal way of materializing images. I've never been that interested in a painterly style. My images are most often mentally resolved— 'imagined'—by the time they make it to the canvas." In the early nineties, Alÿs collaborated with Mexican sign-painters ("rotulistas") to paint enlarged and elaborated versions of his small paintings, which they were invited to reproduce at their own taste. The generic name of this project

1512-683: A plan by the Knights of the Golden Circle to create a 'Golden Circle' with a 1200   mile-radius centered on Havana. After the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War in 1865, many former slaveholders continued to run plantations by moving to Havana. In 1863, the city walls were knocked down so that the metropolis could be enlarged. At the end of the 19th century, Havana witnessed

1620-582: A portion of the candidates is nominated at the local level. The People's Councils (Consejos Populares) consist of local city delegates who elect a full-time representative to preside over the body. These councils are directly responsible for the city's neighbourhoods and wards. In addition, there is involvement of "mass organizations" and representatives of local government agencies, industries and services. The 105 People's Councils in Havana cover an average of 20,000 residents. Havana city borders are contiguous with

1728-720: A problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end. Batista stayed in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958. After the revolution of 1959 , the new government under Fidel Castro began to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings. Nevertheless, after Castro's abrupt expropriation of all private property and industry (May 1959 onwards) under

1836-498: A single line, they moved their shovel full of sand one step at a time from one side of a dune to the other, and together they displaced by a few inches the 500 mt long sand dune from its original position. Art critic Jean Fisher writes that "the radical event of art precipitates a crisis of meaning or, rather, it exposes the void of meaning at the core of a given social situation, which is its truth." Between 2004 and 2005 Alÿs collaborated with Artangel on several projects regrouped under

1944-464: A small magnetic toy dog on wheels throughout the streets of Mexico City so as to collect any metallic residue lying in its path. In Fairy Tales (1995), he takes a walk after unravelling the sweater he has on, leaving an ever-lengthening, blue-thread trail in his wake. Also in 1995, Alÿs realized an action in São Paulo called The Leak in which he walked from a gallery, around the city, and back into

2052-588: A strong communist model backed by the Soviet Union followed by the U.S. embargo , shortages that affected Cuba in general hit Havana especially hard. By 1966–68, the Cuban government had nationalized all privately owned business entities in Cuba, down to "certain kinds of small retail forms of commerce" as per law No. 1076. An economic downturn occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Soviet subsidies ended, representing billions of dollars which

2160-799: A variety of techniques. First Chair of the Organizing Committee: Marcia Leiseca The event was established in 1984. This edition exhibited artists only from Latin America and the Caribbean . It was attended by 800 artists from 22 countries, with the collaboration of numerous historians and critics from almost the entire continent of Latin América. The event focused on themes such as tradition and contemporaneity, challenges, art, society and reflection, man and his memory, art and urban life. The artists' works included

2268-531: A wide variety of techniques and trends such as photography, video art, installations and performances. It had a competition in the genres of painting, engraving, drawing and photography. The Wifredo Lam Grand Prize was awarded to artist Arnold Belkin . Artists such as Carmelo Arden Quin , José Gamarra , Carlos Alonso , Horacio García Rossi, Adolfo Patiño, Ever Astudillo, Roberto Fabelo , Omar Rayo , León Ferrari , Fernell Franco and Tomás Sánchez participated. Director: Llilian Llanes Held in 1986, it sought

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2376-697: A year after Havana was seized, the Peace of Paris was signed by the three warring powers thus ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for the return of the city of Havana on to Spain. After regaining the city, the Spanish transformed Havana into the most heavily fortified city in the Americas like Cartagena, Colombia a city that under the leadership of Blas de Lezo defeated

2484-556: Is Reinaldo García Zapata of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). In 2009, the city/province had the third-highest income in the country. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one: Old Havana , Vedado and the newer suburban districts. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay , which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbors: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Antares . The Almendares River traverses

2592-486: Is San Cristóbal ( Saint Christopher ), to whom the cathedral is devoted. it also has a minor basilica , Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre and two other national shrines, Jesús Nazareno del Rescate and San Lázaro (El Rincón). It received papal visits from three successive supreme pontiffs: Pope John Paul II (January 1998), Pope Benedict XVI (March 2012) and Pope Francis (September 2015). The Jewish community in Havana has reduced after

2700-485: Is a hybrid of all 3 put together. In February 2007 the New York Times estimated that there were about 1,500 known Jews living in Havana. Havana has a diversified economy, with traditional sectors, such as manufacturing, construction, transportation and communications, and new or revived ones such as biotechnology and tourism. The city's economy first developed on the basis of its location, which made it one of

2808-515: Is a population of internal migrants to Havana nicknamed "palestinos" (Palestinians) (sometimes considered a racist term ) who mostly hail from the eastern region of Oriente . The city's significant minority of Chinese, mostly of Cantonese origin, were brought in the mid-19th century by Spanish settlers via the Philippines with work contracts and after completing 8-year contracts many Chinese immigrants settled permanently in Havana. Before

2916-516: Is a population of several thousand North African teen and pre-teen refugees. Between 2018, the most recent census, and the mid-Twentieth Century census of 1953, Havana's population has grown by an estimated 87 percent, a growth rate typical of most Latin American cities. Roman Catholics form the largest religious group in Havana. Havana is one of the three Metropolitan sees on the island (the others being Camagüey and Santiago), with two suffragan bishoprics: Matanzas and Pinar del Río. Its patron saint

3024-418: Is centered elsewhere on the island and controls some three-fourths of the export economy. But light manufacturing facilities, meat-packing plants, and chemical and pharmaceutical operations are concentrated in Havana. Other food-processing industries are also important, along with shipbuilding, vehicle manufacturing, production of alcoholic beverages (particularly rum), textiles, and tobacco products, particularly

3132-475: Is dependent upon the national government, particularly, for much of its budgetary and overall political direction. Voters elect delegates to Municipal Assemblies in competitive elections every five years, and the Municipal Assemblies are responsible for each of the city's boroughs. These assemblies elect the borough presidents and vice presidents, which are equivalents to mayors and vice mayors in

3240-440: Is shared and contents are generated. It was essential to foster dialogues between insiders and outsiders, to work with live art and to permanently involve the spectator. The Cuban context and public spaces would become a temporary laboratory for artistic experimentation. Subject: Between the idea and the experience Havana Havana ( / h ə ˈ v æ n ə / ; Spanish : La Habana [la aˈβana] )

3348-427: Is similar to a developed country, with Havana having an even higher proportion of elderly than the country as a whole. According to the 2012 national census of Havana's population (the Cuban census and similar studies use the term "skin color" instead of "race"). As with the other Caribbean nations, there are few mestizos in Havana (and Cuba as a whole), in contrast to many other Latin American countries, because

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3456-490: Is the capital and largest city of Cuba . The heart of the La Habana Province , Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. It is the most populous city, the largest by area, and the second largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The population in 2012 was 2,154,454 inhabitants, and its area is 728.26 km (281.18 sq mi) for the capital city side and 8,475.57 km for

3564-580: Is the hill to the west that is occupied by the University of Havana and the Castillo del Príncipe (Havana) . Havana has a tropical climate that is tempered by the island's position in the belt of the trade winds and by the warm offshore currents. Under the Köppen climate classification , Havana has a tropical savanna climate ( Aw ) that closely borders on a tropical rainforest climate ( Af ) and

3672-460: The Casa de Contratación of Seville (the crown-controlled trading house that held a monopoly on New World trade). Ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the city's bay also fueled Havana's agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water, and other products needed to traverse

3780-462: The ⟨b⟩ was switched to a ⟨v⟩ because of a linguistic phenomenon known as betacism , which is an assimilation of the voiced bilabial plosive and voiced labiodental fricative sounds that occurs in most modern Spanish dialects. Usage of the word Havana in literature understandably peaked during the Spanish–American War , but it also represents a type of cigar,

3888-592: The Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana , a new 5-star hotel attempting to develop a new hospitality industry. In Old Havana, a number of streets and squares have been rehabilitated in an effort to rebuild for tourists. But Old Havana is a large city, and the restoration efforts concentrate in all on less than 10% of its area. On the night of 27 January 2019, an unusually violent and destructive tornado ripped through Havana. The tornado killed eight people and injured over 190. It

3996-819: The Mayabeque Province on the south and east and to Artemisa Province on the west, since former La Habana Province (rural) was abolished in 2010. Havana lies on the northern coast of Cuba along the Straits of Florida , south of the Florida Keys , where the Gulf of Mexico joins the Atlantic Ocean. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbors: Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Atarés. The Almendares River traverses

4104-533: The Seven Years' War . The episode began on 6 June 1762, when at dawn, a British fleet, comprising more than 50 ships and a combined force of over 11,000 men of the Royal Navy and Army, sailed into Cuban waters and made an amphibious landing east of Havana. The British immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies , causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Less than

4212-563: The hospital de San Lázaro , the monastery of Santa Teresa and the convent of San Felipe Neri were completed in this era. In 1649 a fatal epidemic, brought from Cartagena in Colombia, affected a third of the population of Havana. In 1674, the works for the City Walls were started, as part of the fortification efforts. They would be completed by 1740. By the middle of the 18th century Havana had more than seventy thousand inhabitants, and

4320-451: The 1943 census. The con-urbanization expanded over the Havana municipality borders into neighbor municipalities of Marianao, Regla and Guanabacoa. Starting from the 1980s, the city's population is growing slowly as a result of balanced development policies, low birth rate, its relatively high rate of emigration abroad, and controlled domestic migration. Because of the city and country's low birth rate and high life expectancy, its age structure

4428-867: The 59th Venice Biennale with the solo presentation, Francis Alÿs: The Nature of the Game. In 2024 Alÿs has participated in Manif d’art, the Québec City Biennale and a solo exhibition at the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI). He has been awarded the Blue Orange prize in 2004, the Vincent Award in 2008, the BACA-laureate prize in 2010, the EYE Art & Film Prize from EYE Filmmuseum in 2018, in 2020

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4536-431: The Biennial, inaugurated in 1994, was intended to highlight the close links between artistic production and contextual conflicts, as a quality consubstantial to a whole area of contemporary art in our regions. Particular themes were worked on, such as: the physical and social environment; the different expressions of marginality and power relations in the sphere of art; the phenomenon of migrations and intercultural processes;

4644-712: The Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, both 2013); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2010); The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (2008); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2007); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (2006); and Portikus, Frankfurt (2006). Alÿs participated in the Venice Biennale in 1999, 2001, 2007 and 2017, and the Carnegie International in 2004.In 2022, Alÿs represented Belgium at

4752-787: The Provincial Council (until 2019 the Provincial Assembly), which in Havana serves roughly as the City Council; its president appoints the Governor and Vice Governor, who serve as the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Havana and can be either elected by the council or appointed by the president with council confirmation. There are direct elections for the city's deputies to the National Assembly based on slates, and

4860-473: The Revolution from once having embraced more than 15,000 Jews, many of whom had fled Nazi persecution and subsequently left Cuba to Miami or to Israel after Castro took to power in 1959. The city once had five synagogues, but only three remain (one Orthodox , and two Conservative : one Conservative Ashkenazi and one Conservative Sephardic ), Beth Shalom Grand Synagogue is one of them and another that

4968-514: The Soviet Union had given the Cuban government . Many believed the revolutionary government would soon collapse, as happened to the Soviet satellite states of Eastern Europe. After many years of economic struggle and prohibition, the socialist government has turned to tourism for revenue and has brought foreign investors to remodel the nationalized, former Manzana de Gomez building, and turn it into

5076-861: The Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award and the Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts, and the Wolfgang Hahn Prize at the Museum Ludwig in 2023. He was among the names in Blake Gopnik 's 2011 list "The 10 Most Important Artists of Today", with Gopnik arguing that his art stands for "being alive and striving to do anything in a universe that grinds all efforts to dust." In 2013, Dale Eisinger of Complex ranked Re-Enactment 10th in his list of

5184-546: The Yazidi Refugee Camp of Sharya, Duhok, Iraq; Color Matching (2016), filmed during his embed with Kurdish forces; Salam Tristesse (2018) produced in collaboration with the Yazidi Refugee Camp of Kabarto and lastly Sandlines, the Story of History (2020), a feature film where the children of a mountain village near Mosul reenact a century of Iraqi history, from the secret agreement of Sykes/Picot signed in 1916 to

5292-417: The artist himself has described as "a sort of discursive argument composed of episodes, metaphors, or parables." Many of his works involve intense observation and recording of the social, cultural and economic fabric of specific locations, commonly taking place during walks through urban areas. Citing the act of walking as the centre of his practice, for his first performance The Collector (1991), he dragged

5400-681: The artist's habit of 'making contact' with a different culture by seeing and filming how children play. The artist's work was the subject of major surveys like A Story of Deception , which was on view from 2010 to 2011 at Tate Modern, London; Wiels Centre d'Art Contemporain, Brussels; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York and MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York; or A Story of Negotiation , which traveled between 2015 and 2017 from Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, to Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) – Fundación Costantini, Buenos Aires; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de la Habana, Havana; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Over

5508-446: The character of Alÿs' actions and mythology—Alÿs contrasts geological and technological time through land-based and social practice that examine individual memory and collective mythology. Alÿs frequently engages rumor as a central tool in his practice, disseminating ephemeral, practice-based works through word-of-mouth and storytelling. He has documented children's games for decades. Alÿs' body of works encompasses many media. Whereas in

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5616-456: The circulation of works, as well as for their commercialization. This has influenced the relationship between the artist and the public, the artist and the community, and the city, and has redefined the integration of art into the daily habitat. Urban interventions were carried out in several sites in the historic zone of the capital and its modern zone through graphic mural projects and the realization of works in semi-abandoned spaces that allowed

5724-405: The city exploring interpersonal relationships and modes of communication between human beings. Their objective was to reflect on the impact of technological advances in the phenomenon of communication in different spheres, which have undoubtedly generated new individual and social behaviors, since the art system itself has been affected by this circumstance, given that new supports have appeared for

5832-412: The city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. The city attracts over a   million tourists annually; (1,176,627 international tourists in 2010, a 20% increase from 2005). Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. The city is also noted for its history , culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana experiences

5940-482: The city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. There are low hills on which the city lies rise gently from the waters of the straits. A noteworthy elevation is the 200-foot-high (60-meter) limestone ridge that slopes up from the east and culminates in the heights of La Cabaña and El Morro , the sites of Spanish fortifications overlooking the eastern bay. Another notable rise

6048-580: The city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555. Such attacks convinced the Spanish Crown to fund the construction of the first fortresses in the main cities – not only to counteract the pirates and corsairs, but also to exert more control over commerce with the West Indies, and to limit the extensive contrabando ( black market ) that had arisen due to the trade restrictions imposed by

6156-403: The conflicts of human beings living in "the periphery of postmodernity"; and cultural appropriations and crossbreeding. Nearly 200 artists from 43 countries participated in the event. Subject: The individual and his memory Director: Llilian Llanes This event, which took place in 1997, showed the work of a significant group of artists who had appealed to different registers of memory with

6264-461: The country's highest incomes and human development indicators. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba re-emphasized tourism as a major industry leading to its recovery. Tourism is now Havana and Cuba's primary economic source. Havana's economy is still in flux, despite Raúl Castro's embrace of free enterprise in 2011. Though there was an uptick in small businesses in 2011, many have since gone out of business, due to lack of business and income on

6372-442: The curators of the event, by virtue of the organic articulation of their work with the thesis being worked on each occasion. This Biennial proposed as part of its thesis the interrelations between the so-called high art and popular art. Nearly 300 artists from 41 countries participated in the Biennial. Subject: Challenge to Colonization Director: Llilian Llanes Held in 1991, it served as an exceptional space for reflection on

6480-473: The earlier years the actions were mostly performed by the artist himself, over the past decade children have become the main protagonists of his projects. These public actions are documented in video, installations, paintings, and drawings. Throughout his practice, Francis Alÿs consistently directs his distinct poetic and imaginative sensibility toward anthropological and geopolitical concerns centered around observations of, and engagements with, everyday life, which

6588-541: The early 19th century, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. Havana's theaters featured the most distinguished actors of the age, and prosperity among the burgeoning middle-class led to expensive new classical mansions being erected. During this period Havana became known as the Paris of the Antilles . In 1837, the first railroad was constructed, a 51 km (32 mi) stretch between Havana and Bejucal , which

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6696-452: The early great trade centers in the New World. Sugar and a flourishing slave trade first brought riches to the city, and later, after independence, it became a renowned resort. Despite efforts by Fidel Castro's government to spread Cuba's industrial activity to all parts of the island, Havana remains the center of much of the nation's industry. The traditional sugar industry, upon which the island's economy has been based for three centuries,

6804-517: The eastern part of Havana province). Rainfall is heaviest in June and October and lightest from December through April, averaging 1,200 mm (47 in) annually. Hurricanes occasionally strike the island, but they ordinarily hit the south coast, and damage in Havana has been less than elsewhere in the country. The most recent tropical cyclone to come near Havana at hurricane strength was Ian in 2022. Tornadoes can be somewhat rare in Cuba, however, on

6912-448: The end of 2012 official Census, 19.1% of the population of Cuba lived in Havana. According to the census of 2012, the population was 2,106,146. The city has an average life expectancy of 76.81 years at birth. In 2009, there were 1,924 people living with HIV/AIDS in the city, 78.9% of these are men, and 21.1% being women. Havana agglomeration grew rapidly during the first half of the 20th century reaching 1   million inhabitants in

7020-482: The evening of 28 January 2019, a very rare strong EF4 tornado struck the eastern side of Havana . The tornado caused extensive damage, destroying at least 90 homes, killing four people and injuring 195. By 4 February the death toll had increased to six, with 11 people still in critical condition. The table lists temperature averages: The city is divided into 15 municipalities – or boroughs , which are further subdivided into 105 consejos populares (wards) By

7128-455: The final moments of Spanish presence in the Americas. The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish–American War . Cuba's first presidential period under Tomás Estrada Palma from 1902 to 1906 was considered to uphold the highest standards of administrative integrity in the history of the Republic of Cuba. While Cuba had

7236-401: The first time, the organisers decided to include western countries. The 10th edition added conferences, workshops, master classes, documentaries and video screenings. The artists transformed the city into a showcase of contemporary art , taking over all available urban spaces and municipal galleries. Common topics included the tensions between tradition and contemporary reality, challenges to

7344-496: The following venues: Dia Art Foundation at The Hispanic Society of America, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); National Portrait Gallery, London; Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos, Spain (organized by Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid); Haus sum Kirschgarten, Basel (organized by Schaulager); Museo de Arte de Lima; Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico; Pinacoteca do Estado de Sao Paulo; Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico. Its latest presentation

7452-412: The forms he has employed in his actions, but the paintings connect to his actions in other ways too since their surfaces are worked and re-worked. The fact that the images are never final but rather are palimpsests, suggests the deep connection between figurative painting and action art that lies at the heart of Alÿs' work. "What justifies my recourse to painting is that it's the shortest way—or sometimes

7560-559: The gallery trailing a dribbled line from an open can of blue paint. This action was reprised in 2004 when Alÿs traced a line of paint following the 1948 cease-fire border in Jerusalem, known as 'the green line', carrying a can filled with green paint. The bottom of the can was perforated with a small hole, so the paint dripped out as a continuous squiggly line on the ground as he walked. The work Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing) documents an action performed on

7668-422: The highest ratio of hospital beds to population in Latin America, around 80% of these beds were located in the city of Havana, there was only one rural hospital and it was equipped with only 10 beds. In July 1940, during World War II , the Havana Conference was held and 21 American nations, including the host country Cuba, agreed to govern their own territories that were occupied by the Axis powers . In 1958, Cuba

7776-542: The historical processes of colonization, the relationships between art and society, individuals and memory, the effects of technological development on human communication and the dynamics of urban culture. The curators for this 2009 Biennial were Margarita González, Nelson Herrera Ysla, José Manuel Noceda, Ibis Hernández Abascal, Margarita Sánchez Prieto, José Fernández Portal and Dannys Montes de Oca Moreda. Subject: Artistic Practices and Social Imaginaries Director: Jorge Antonio Fernández Torres The 2012 edition, under

7884-421: The indigenous Taíno population was virtually wiped out by Eurasian diseases in the earliest period of the Spanish conquest. The Cuban government controls the movement of people into Havana on the grounds that the Havana metropolitan area (home to nearly 20% of the country's population) is overstretched in terms of land use, water, electricity, transportation, and other elements of the urban infrastructure. There

7992-403: The intention behind the plot rather than illustrating the facts of the film. It functions more like a correspondence, a pendant." Since 1994, Alÿs has been collecting copies of Jean-Jacques Henner's painting of Fabiola, a fourth-century patrician Roman woman who, despite divorce and remarriage, did such fervent penance that she was welcomed back to the faith and, after her death, sainted. Through

8100-507: The meaning of colonization and neo-colonization, not only of the contents of our societies and cultures, but also of the languages and instruments used today. This Biennial was held in the context of the controversy generated by the celebration of the V Centenary of the Discovery of America. Nearly 200 artists from 45 countries participated in the Biennial. Subject: Art, Society and Reflection Director: Llilian Llanes This edition of

8208-542: The metropolitan zone. Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century. It served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the Americas , becoming a stopping point for Spanish galleons returning to Spain. Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of capital in 1607. Walls and forts were built to protect the city. The city is the seat of the Cuban government and various ministries, and headquarters of businesses and over 100 diplomatic offices. The governor

8316-589: The most abundant materials of the island, mainly wood, combining various Iberian architectural styles, as well as borrowing profusely from Canarian characteristics. During this period the city also built civic monuments and religious constructions. The convent of St Augustin, El Morro Castle, the chapel of the Humilladero, the fountain of Dorotea de la Luna in La Chorrera, the church of the Holy Angel,

8424-458: The museum and into the streets. Noteworthy artists to have "activated" the urban space include Mitchell Sipus and Fabiana de Barros. It was attended by 150 artists from 48 countries. Subject: Dynamics of urban culture Director: Rubén Del Valle Held in 2006, this edition was intended to draw attention to contemporary visual culture, which owes much to the popular components in the urban scenario, architecture and graphic elements that produce

8532-469: The ocean. On 20 December 1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City. Later on, the city would be officially designated as "Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies" by the Spanish Crown . In the meantime, efforts to build or improve the defensive infrastructures of the city continued. Havana expanded greatly in the 17th century. New buildings were constructed from

8640-487: The only way—to translate certain scenarios or situations that cannot be said, that cannot be filmed or performed. It's about entering a situation that could not exist elsewhere, only on the paper or canvas. [...] Also, painting allows me to retreat from the sometimes hectic rhythm of the performances and film productions, and to distance myself without losing contact with them. [...] When I am translating an ongoing film plot into an image, I'll try to create an image that reflects

8748-538: The other Director: Nelson Herrera Ysla Held from November 2000 to January 2001. More than 171 artists from 43 different countries participated in this edition of the biennale, among them Nadín Ospina, Francis Alÿs , Susan Hiller, Julieta Aranda , Tania Bruguera , Diana Domingues, H Committee of Human Vindication , Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer , Los Carpinteros , César Martínez Silva, Teresa Margolles , Miguel Calderon , Santiago Sierra , among others. Numerous events were held in various public places in

8856-475: The other provinces. There is only one political party, the Communist Party , but since there must be a minimum of two candidates, members of the Communist Party often run against each other. Candidates are not required to be members of the party. They are nominated directly by citizens in open meetings within each election district. Municipal Assembly delegates within the boroughs in turn elect members of

8964-406: The part of the local residents, whose salaries average $ 20 per month. Francis Al%C3%BFs Francis Alÿs (born 1959, Antwerp ) is a Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist. His work emerges in the interdisciplinary space of art, architecture, and social practice. In 1986, Alÿs left behind his profession as an architect and relocated to Mexico City , where he lives and works. He has created

9072-528: The participation of members of the community or neighborhood where they were carried out. Also, for the first time, an International Meeting of Art Students was held at the headquarters of the Higher Institute of Art of Havana. Subject: Art with life Director: Hilda María Rodríguez The eighth edition of the Biennial was convened for the year 2003, under the spirit of Art with Life, to provoke reflections on daily life, its conflicts and bounties,

9180-662: The past decade, he has had several solo exhibitions, including at the Barbican Art Gallery, London (2024); WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels (2023-24); Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City (2023); Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei (2022); Copenhagen Contemporary (2022); Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (2021); Museo Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2020); the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM), Shanghai (2018); Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (traveled to

9288-707: The piece in The Brooklyn Rail, "The sight of his lean frame racing towards the twisters is at once ridiculous and hysterical—blithe qualities that quickly give way to gravitas as the artist physically enters the eye of the storm. Inside, chaos reigns and Alÿs, unprotected except for his handheld camera, is enveloped and pummeled by flying bits of sand, dust and dirt." In his best-known work, When Faith Moves Mountains (2002), Alÿs recruited 500 volunteers in Ventanilla District outside of Lima, Peru. The participants were equipped with shovels and, forming

9396-442: The plastic arts and the Third World environment. Director: Llilian Llanes When the third edition of the event was held in 1989, it was decided to readjust the open character that characterized it in its foundational stage, implementing, from then on, a curatorial criterion under premises previously defined by the organizing team. After this date, the artists from different countries and geographical areas are expressly selected by

9504-595: The problems and semblances of our cities, the role of art in the territories of coexistence, in short, the possible relations between art and life, including all its possible fractures. Lapses in the schedule were due to funding challenges. The 8th Biennial of 2002 was delayed an entire year, resuming in November 2003. This event showcased art within the social landscape, outside of traditional institutions. Artists normally unable or unwilling to participate with large institutions engaged diverse audiences by bringing art out of

9612-406: The purpose of reaffirming their human and social condition. The crisis of ethical and spiritual values, as well as existential conflicts, were reflected in projects through the oversizing of the body and the use of objects that assume a symbolic connotation and reveal a sense of belonging or explain their evocative capacity. It was attended by 170 artists from 41 countries. Subject: One closer to

9720-643: The realm of terror established by the Islamic State in 2016. Sandlines premiered in 2020 at festivals like Sundance, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Mexico City's FICUNAM. Alÿs continues to add to his long-running film series Children's Games (1999–present) which has amassed over 30 videos of children playing games in places in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Europe, and Hong Kong. The series reflects

9828-507: The reel rolling down the hills of Kabul, with one boy unrolling the strip of film and leading the way, while another follows him, rewinding it. The title Reel-Unreel alludes to the real/unreal image of Afghanistan conveyed by the media in the West: how the Afghan way of life, along with its people, has gradually been dehumanized and, after decades of war, turned into a Western fiction. In 2013, he

9936-563: The revolution the Chinese population counted to over 200,000, today, Chinese ancestors could count up to 100,000. Chinese born/ native Chinese (mostly Cantonese as well) are around 400 presently. There are some 3,000 Russians living in the city; as reported by the Russian Embassy in Havana, most are women married to Cubans who had studied in the Soviet Union. Havana also shelters other non-Cuban population of an unknown size. There

10044-490: The sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name: San Cristóbal de la Habana . The name combines San Cristóbal , patron saint of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cuba's first cities, the island served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Havana began as a trading port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers , pirates, and French corsairs . The first attack and resultant burning of

10152-450: The slope of a dirt road in a shantytown of Tijuana while the viewer hears musicians rehearsing a song. Every time they stop playing, the car rolls backwards down the hill, as if running out of petrol, but when the music starts up again, the car starts driving up the hill once more. In Tornado (2000-2010), spliced film clips show Alÿs chasing after huge dust devils kicked up by the annual dry season in central Mexico. Kara L. Rooney writes of

10260-499: The status of an icon. What is an icon? Is an icon defined by official art history? Or is an icon defined by, in this case, what seems to be an amateur painter's obsession with a particular image?' 24 Fabiolas were first exhibited in 1994 at the Mexico City's cultural initiative Curare: espacio crítico para las artes. In 1997, 60 of them were exhibited at London's Whitechapel Art Gallery. Between 2007 and 2018 they were exhibited at

10368-414: The streets of Mexico City in 1997. The film depicts a simple and seemingly pointless endeavour, where a large block of ice is pushed through the city streets for nine hours until it melts away to a puddle of meltwater. Rachel Spence sees Alÿs in this action as "an artist who marries surreal whimsy with ethical commitment". The Rehearsal (1999) consists of a 30 min static take of a red VW Beetle driving up

10476-481: The teenagers, they entered the city walls and, hiding in the rubbles, called the birds to create the illusion that the city was coming back to life. "I was profoundly under the spell of pre-Renaissance painting during my years of university in Italy: from Lorenzetti to Fra Angelico . Even to this day, my iconography is a combination of that imagery and the language of Mexican sign painting. This blend allowed me to find

10584-415: The theme "Artistic Practices and Social Imaginaries", brought together more than 115 artists from 43 countries, with contemporary art representatives from Mexico, Guatemala, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and Panama, among others. In this edition the main interest was to reflect on the basis on which social networks are constituted and become a space for socialization where information

10692-504: The title of Seven Walks. In one of them, The Nightwatch (2004), a wild fox called Bandit was set free in the National Portrait Gallery while its wanderings were filmed by the surveillance cameras of the museum. For Performa 05 , Alys created Ensayo II (2005) in collaboration with Rafael Ortega. The performance juxtaposed a rare mix of high and low in a staged performance featuring a striptease artist (Bella Yao),

10800-760: The town at the mouth of the river. Between 1514 and 1519 the Spanish established two settlements on the north coast, one of them in La Chorrera , around the site of the Torreón de la Chorrera , what eventually became the neighborhoods of Vedado and Miramar, next to the mouth of the Almendares River . The town that became Havana originated adjacent to what was then called Puerto de Carenas (literally, " Careening Port"), in 1519. The quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havana's harbor, warranted this change of location. Pánfilo de Narváez gave Havana –

10908-474: The world-famous Habanos cigars. Although the harbors of Cienfuegos and Matanzas , in particular, have been developed under the revolutionary government, Havana remains Cuba's primary port facility; 50% of Cuban imports and exports pass through Havana. The port also supports a considerable fishing industry. In 2000, nearly 89% of the city's officially recorded labor force worked for government-run agencies, institutions or enterprises. Havana, on average, has

11016-617: Was The Liar, the Copy of the Liar (1997). His intention is to challenge the idea of the original artwork, rendering the process of making more anonymous and deflating the perceived commercial value of art. The paintings of the series Le temps du sommeil were begun in 1996 and often worked on at night. They feature visionary dreamlike scenes involving tiny suited men and women acting out strange rituals reminiscent of children's games and gymnastic experiments. Many of these images anticipate and recall

11124-547: Was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards. On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities. Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems. Unemployment became

11232-867: Was an embedded war artist with the UK's Task Force in the province of Helmand ( Adrenalotourism , 2013). Originally invited by the Baghdad-based Ruya Foundation to do a project in Yezidi refugee camps, Alÿs' main focus of production from 2015 to 2020 took place in Iraq. As a war artist again he accompanied a Peshmerga battalion during the Kurdish offensive to free Mosul from the Islamic state of occupation. In that region Alÿs has also developed projects such as Hopscotch (2016), produced in collaboration with

11340-592: Was assigned an official rating of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale by the Cuban Meteorology Institute, making this the first F4 or EF4 tornado in Cuba since 1940. The governor is Reinaldo García Zapata , he was elected on 18 January 2020. The city is administered by a city-provincial council, with a governor as chief administrative officer, thus Havana functions as both a city and a province of Cuba. The city has little autonomy and

11448-638: Was at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel of the Menil Collection in Houston and by then the collection had grown to include 514 copies of the original portrait. Between 2010 and 2014, Alÿs traveled extensively to Afghanistan following his invitation to participate in dOCUMENTA(13). In collaboration with Julien Devaux and Ajmal Maiwandi, he produced Reel-Unreel (2011), a 20 min film. The camera follows two young Afghan boys as they chase

11556-460: Was the third-largest city in the Americas, ranking behind Lima and Mexico City but ahead of Boston and New York City. During the 18th century Havana was the most important of the Spanish ports because it had facilities where ships could be refitted and, by 1740, it had become Spain's largest and most active shipyard and only drydock in the New World. The city was captured by the British during

11664-514: Was used for transporting sugar from the valley of Güines to the harbor. With this, Cuba became the fifth country in the world to have a railroad, and the first Spanish-speaking country. Throughout the century, Havana was enriched by the construction of additional cultural facilities, such as the Tacón Theatre , one of the most luxurious in the world. The fact that slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 led to Southern American interest, including

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