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Since January 1959, thousands of people have been imprisoned in Cuba for dissent, opposing a repressive system that has curtailed all individual freedoms. We do not know exactly how many political prisoners there have been. We have never known how many jails, how many re-education centers, how many police barracks, how many schools turned into prions, how many prisoners were murdered, how many hunger strikes were carried out.
On the first anniversary of 11J, the unprecedented demonstrations that swept across Cuba on July 11, 2021, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation organized a series of art exhibitions to commemorate those who stood united across the island and remember those still imprisoned simply for calling for liberty.
VOC is proud to present these galleries via a new virtual reality experience so the free world can stand united with the people of Cuba.
The Latin American Programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has organized different art and photograph exhibitions in collaboration with the Organization of American States and the Art Museum of the Americas (AMA) to raise awareness about the human rights violations perpetrated by the Cuban and Venezuelan communist regimes.
This virtual tour represents three of these art exhibitions and galleries.
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The Cuban contemporary art exhibition “The Veil of Silence” was held at the OAS’ AMA from October 27 to November 15, 2021. This exhibition addresses the harsh reality of Cuba from the perspective of contemporary art and reflects on the social impoverishment of a sick population who is starting to wake up to the need to change their life situation and to the different citizen participation mechanisms available to them to do that.
By examining topics such as the madness and its social repercussions, the role of public health’s medical doctors in repressing dissidents and reflecting on how much public health and related communal services have worsened, these artists are inviting the audience to take a closer look at a distressed and exhausted people who have finally begun removing the “veil of silence”.
Curated by: Ana Olema and Valia Garzón Díaz, Celia & Yunior, the exhibition portrays works by Damaris Betancourt, Celia & Yunior, Henry Eric Hernández & Celia & Yunior, Ana Olema, and featuring “Patria y Vida” artists, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Anyelo Troya, and Eliexer Marquez Duany “El Funky”.
During the same period, the exhibition “Venezuela Resists, Images of a Tragedy” displays two important artistic visions of Venezuela’s decline: one by renowned Venezuelan artist VASCO SZINETAR, who explores the “unnamable edges of these misgivings”, and the new visions of Venezuelan photographers participating in the contest “Venezuela in Contrast” who offer a glimpse of daily life through their lenses.
The third gallery, “No nos sirve de nada el miedo” (Fear is of no use to us) was held in collaboration with Umbrella Art Foundation, and the GDCA gallery, in parallel to the 9th Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California.
Organized under the curatorship of activists, Ana Olema and Claudia Genlui, the exhibition features the participation of the Venezuelan artists Muu Blanco, Andrés Michelena and Victor Alfonzo Navarro Lopez, and the Cubans Aryam Rodríguez, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Nelson Jalil, Sandra Ramos, Sandra Ceballos, Ángel Delgado, Yulier P., Alejandro Ulloa, David D’Omni, Ana Olema, and the poet Katherine Bisquet, whose poem gives the exhibition its title.
When Rebellion is an Act of Justice showcases the social, economic, and political realities of life for every day Cubans since the 11J protests, as illustrated by visual artists.
The graphic art exhibition Silent Screams took place in the “Latin Quarter” in the heart of Calle 8, Miami — the epicenter of Cuban culture and freedom. Since 11J, a new wave of young Cuban graphic artists has begun documenting the events of national indignation against communism and used their work to make visible the causes and political prisoners of the movement. Through their artivism, the memory of those condemned to silence by the regime in Havana live on. Inhabiting Cuba highlights the public messaging of three urban artists across the island, with a background in the world of graffiti. Finally, One Year Since the Cry for Freedom is an exhibition that brings together 12 works from Cuban artists, some of whom are still on the island and hope for a future in which they can show their art without fear of reprisal.
Through these exhibitions, independent Cuban artists are making a heroic stand for the basic rights that the communist regime so carelessly tramples. These exhibitions offer an opportunity to show the world the truth of what is happening in Cuba — and provide a voice to those who have otherwise been silenced.
The reality is that Cuba is a huge island prison. There are 11 million Cuban prisoners in different levels of confinement. The bars of Cuba are its coasts. The cells are the destroyed streets, where many silent Cubans wander daily, looking for basic foodstuffs. Other Cubans in the great prison cry out for their rights. They face imprisonment in their own homes, in hundreds of prisons of greater or lesser security, in re-education and interrogation centers distributed throughout the country. Those exiled are still held captive through the remittances they send to relatives who remain on the prison island.
As curator Valia Garzón Díaz writes, “This exhibition includes a timeline of transcendental events in the history of the Political Prison in Cuba from 1959 to date. One of the cases is that of Mario Chanes de Armas, who died in 2007 and served a complete 30-year prison sentence for opposing the Cuban regime. He spent six years in solitary confinement, in a walled cell where he could barley stand up. In those years, Mario Chanes recalled, ‘I watched men get shot, point blank, beaten with bayonets, arbitrarily pulled out and punished. But we were alone. The world didn’t know.’
Despite the efforts that have been made in recent years to publicize the reality of political prisoners in Cuba, information about them, the impact of their lives on the lives of their loved ones and on the fibers of our nations is still not widespread enough. The world doesn’t know everything about the Cuban Communist Prison, and we will not rest until everyone does.”
The participating artists of this exhibit, several of whom have been imprisoned or ostracized for their political views, are now recognized internally for their work:
Tania Bruguera, Hamlet Labastida, Annelys PM Casanova, and Anyelo Troya.
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Hernán
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Hernán
The essence of this project lies in visually reinterpreting these images, assigning artistic styles that reflect the duration of their sentences. This representation is not only intended to be a powerful tool for expression and awareness, but also seeks to provide a tangible means to keep the conversation about justice and freedom in Cuba alive.
The resulting images will be adaptable for use as email signatures or for sharing on social media, thus allowing for broad dissemination and a significant impact on public opinion.
Through this project, we aspire to illuminate forgotten stories and promote positive change in the perception and treatment of political prisoners worldwide.
The motto behind the interpretation (which can be changed, but is the basis for this presentation) is ‘AI-generated art, real sentences’, an initiative that combines art, technology, and activism to give a voice to Cuban political prisoners.
Through artificial intelligence, we will transform their images into digital artworks, selecting specific artistic styles based on the duration of their sentences.
Each piece will be a respectful and thoughtful reinterpretation, not just a photo transformed by a filter. Instead, each image will be like a portrait painted from a description, where the physical absence is noticeable, with the goal of keeping the conversation about human rights and justice alive, using art as a bridge between technology and human empathy.
La esencia de este proyecto radica en reinterpretar visualmente estas imágenes, asignando estilos artísticos que reflejen la duración de sus condenas. Esta representación no sólo pretende ser una potente herramienta de expresión y sensibilización, sino también busca ofrecer un medio tangible para mantener viva la conversación sobre la justicia y la libertad en Cuba.
Las imágenes resultantes serán adaptables para su uso como firmas en correos electrónicos o para compartir en redes sociales, permitiendo así una amplia difusión y un impacto significativo en la opinión pública.
A través de este proyecto, aspiramos a iluminar historias olvidadas y a fomentar un cambio positivo en la percepción y el tratamiento de los presos políticos a nivel mundial.
El lema tras la interpretación (que puede ser cambiado, pero es el que fundamenta esta presentación) es ‘Arte generado por inteligencia artificial, condenas reales’, una iniciativa que combina arte, tecnología y activismo para dar voz a los presos políticos cubanos.
A través de la inteligencia artificial, transformaremos sus imágenes en obras de arte digitales, seleccionando estilos artísticos específicos en función de la duración de sus condenas.
Cada obra será una reinterpretación respetuosa y reflexiva, no simplemente una foto transformada por un filtro. En lugar de ello, cada imagen será como un retrato pintado a partir de una descripción, donde se note la ausencia física, con el objetivo de mantener viva la conversación sobre los derechos humanos y la justicia, utilizando el arte como un puente entre la tecnología y la empatía humana.