New Modalities in Cuba’s Art Biennial
Rafael San Juan-Primavera In the rhythm of the festive Salsa music, under a burning sun, the month-long12th Havana Art Biennial came to a close on June 21st. And with it, the incredible feeling that something of importance happened this time, something that might change the future of the Cuban art world. Poorly organized, understaffed, underfunded, it took the [...]
Faces Bringing Back Dignity of Chinese Farmers
An image can tell stories that words cannot. It can say a lot about a nation's past and present, and it can dwell in dark places of our heart and soul for a long time. And it can also move us onto the awareness of something true and valuable. He Chongyue, one of China's most respected contemporary photographers, has opened [...]
Ai Weiwei, Redefining Tradition in Homeland China
Spouts Installation The world famous Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, who is not allowed to travel outside of China since 2010, opened a solo exhibition for the first time in his home country. I was lucky to arrive at the opening before it became too crowded. The exhibition took over two adjacent galleries and consisted of the recreation of [...]
An Era of Anxiety at the 2015 Venice Biennale
by A.P. With the theme of “All the world’s futures”, the Nigerian Okwui Enwezor, the first African guest curator in the Venice Biennale’s 120 years of history, has got together 136 artists from 56 countries, of whom 89 artists are showing their work for the first time. Enwezor’s intention is to “build a new focus on the relationship between art, [...]
Cool People in The New Republic
Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II (Michael Jackson), 2009Oil on canvas The latest exhibition of the American artist Kenhinde Wiley at the Brooklyn Museum in New York has powerfully challenged traditional concepts of portraiture, and introduced an updated meaning to the issue of identity. When we saw the title of the exhibition- The New Republic- we thought that [...]
If You’re Going to San Francisco…
If you're going to San Francisco on a spring day,make sure to take the historic trolley and get off at The Castro district. There are numerous stylish shops, Eco-friendly cafes and bars but the thing to do is to look for murals. They are not easy to find but once you do, they are fun and constitute a reflection [...]