Cuban Modern Art in Italy: "Senza Confini" exhibition

Piazza

It was raining like hell last week and I felt as I'm in Jurassic Park but it didn't stop me to visit "Senza Confini" exhibition which opened me a window to the Cuban modern art and I want to bring it to you.




"Senza Confini" means "Without borders". The exhibition, presenting the works of eight Cuban artists, was organized and managed by Massimiliano Toso.





Massimiliano Toso was born in Genoa and has been living in Cuba since 1997. He is an art manager and a promoter of the Cuban modern art. We hid from the cold rain in the cozy atmosphere of the small art gallery in Savona where I had a chance to sit and talk with him for a while. Here you can read his answers to some of my questions:

Q. How did you decide to move to Cuba?

MT: I left Italy when I was just over my 20 and I was travelling in a lot of different countries. I went to Cuba because I like this country the most of all. I reckon Havana is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

During the last 4-5 years in Cuba, I concentrated myself only in the art scene. Now I know everybody in this field there. I know thousands of artists who have enough skill and level to participate in an exhibition like "Senza Confini".

Niels Reyes' cover art "Nino de fuego" can be seen on this picture

Q. How did you choose the participants in the "Senza Confini" exhibition?

MT: All artists who participate have different styles of art. In this way I wanted to present the exhibition as a manifestation of the Cuban art and to bring these artists' works to the world.

I wanted to have a good mix of new and young artists altogether with very well experienced.

"Expectativa Nro 2" by Alejandro Gomez Cangas

For example, ALEJANDRO CANGAS is very young and has just finished university, while NOEL CRUZ has a career with over 30 years of experience. I also wanted to bring up artists who are not so famous yet. Actually, some of the well experienced have already had a large success in Europe and USA but the youngest still have a long way to go. This is the first exhibition in Italy to all of them.

"La casa de Ramona" on the left and "Encerrona" on the right,
by Noel Morera Cruz

Noel Cruz has a technique of using the pollution to make his paintings, says Massimiliano. He just sits with his canvas on the bay and the petrol that is spilled in the Gulf becomes his working material.

Q. What is it like to be an artist in Cuba?

"Otro día en la vida de Sara Thornton"
by Maykel Linares, born in 1979

MT: Being an artist in Cuba is the most liked profession by people because it is one of the few that can bring you to a good success in life or income and can give you an opportunity for travelling.

Since the revolution, the government has put a great amount of efforts to support and push the development of the art and the culture in general. They invest a lot in everything that concerns culture. Besides, we are talking about very well educated population.

Q. I've read some of the artist studied in Instituto Superior de Artes in Havana - Can you tell me about it?

On the left side is "Desconectando" by Vladimir De León Llaguno

MT: ISA? This is a large place, a large park with a campus where students live. They come from all over the country and study and live in the institute. There is a lot of space there and they do any kind of art from acting to music.

Q.  How did you come up with the idea for "Senza Confini" exhibition?

"La siesta" by Osvaldo González Aguiar on the left
and "Silicona" by Yunior Acosta on the right

MT: I work in this field in Cuba, organizing exhibitions there, promoting art and thus,  last winter I decided that maybe it was time to do something in Italy, my home country. So I came here and presented a project to the Foundation Palazzo Ducale in Genoa where I come from. The Foundation is one of the most well-reputed cultural institutions in Italy so I wanted to get off on the right foot. My project was approved and thus, I did the exhibition in Palazzo Ducale in the end of September. Then I was contacted by the municipality of Savona. They had seen the exhibition, had liked it and I moved it to Savona too.

Yunior Acosta's "De filósofo a chaman" on the left and
"En el parque 2 (La fuente)" by Niels Reyes

Yunior Acosta's satyr-like sculptures are made with synthetic resin and are hollow inside.

(At this moment a visitor came in to look around and I decided to left Massimiliano to his work with one final question)

Q. Do you have plans to do an exhibition of Cuban art in other countries? 

MT: Yes, definitely.  I have plans to organize individual exhibitions for some of the artists. I will start working on this in the spring next year.

Thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts!