Cuban Field Trips/Viajes Cubanos, Week of May 18

Librarian-friendly activities are somewhat wanting this week, but if you have an interest in Cuban art...goldmine! "Cuban Artists' Books and Prints / Libros y Grabados de Artistas Cubanos 1985-2009," an exhibition organized by Wake Forest University and the Grolier Club, opens on Wednesday with accompanying events at the Club and the Museum of Modern Art. It includes 120 books and projects in various media, created under the auspices of Ediciones Vigía, a collaborative artists' press.

From the Grolier Club's description, one might conclude that much of the art is minimally (or only slyly) subversive, that these state-educated artists have endured Castro's "gaunt and threadbare state" experiencing a minimum of cruelty and repression. From the Wake Forest press release:

In 2007, [curator Linda S.] Howe initiated an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship project to create an exhibition that would bring national and international attention to these artists and their work. “These artists have survived cultural politics, difficult living conditions and resource shortages that limited their access to the most basic materials, like paper,” she said, “but the project is not about politics. It’s about living our university motto, ‘Pro Humanitate’—for the good of humanity.”

But how does one think about/discuss/engage with Cuba sans politics? Learn more, live:

• May 20: "Cuban Artists' Books" panel discussion and symposia at MoMA.
• May 21: Free lecture by exhibition curator Linda S. Howe at the Grolier Club.