Also see
Red all over, article in AIGA Voice on
U.S.-China-Cuba graphics Interview with author inPLAZM PBPBS
documentary
"Victory is Your Duty" 6/10/200
¡Revolucion! Cuban Poster Art
by Lincoln Cushing
Chronicle Books, 2003; 8x10 in; 132 pp; 150 color
images, ISBN 0811835820
Produced with unprecedented access to Cuban national archives, this
book assembles nearly 150 of these powerful but little-seen works of
popular art. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the posters rallied the
Cuban people to the huge task of building a new society, promoted
massive sugar harvests and national literacy campaigns; opposed the
U.S. war in Vietnam; and celebrated films, music, dance, and baseball
with a unique graphic wit and exuberant colorful style. Includes an
introduction illuminating the rich social and artistic history of the
posters and biographical information on the artists themselves. "Does for the golden age of Cuban poster art what Ry
Cooder and Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club did for the country's
aged and neglected musicians."
-The Dominion Post
11/15/2003 (Wellington, New Zealand) "...a vivid case for the
preservation and analysis of this ephemeral art form." Miami Herald,
12/7/2003
"...handsomely
designed and smartly documented...may inspire today’s young
propagandists." -Steven Heller, Eye, Issue 54, Summer 2004
"There is little else available on this fascinating topic;
highly recommended for all collections." -David A. Berona, Library
Journal, 5/15/2003
Exhibition
One Struggle, Two
Communities: Late 20th Century Political Posters of Havana, Cuba and
the San Francisco Bay Area
2003 show at the Berkeley Art
Center which featured posters from Havana, Cuba matched with
graphic work by eight Bay Area artists.
I helped to
include posters as part of an historic cultural exchange
between U.C. Berkeley and the National Library of Cuba; see OAC finding
aid.
A small web catalog of Cuban posters may
be seen here,
catalog of most OSPAAAL posters here.Non-exploitative
source of posters for sale- Center for Cuban
Studies
The roots of the Cuban poster tradition
Cuba is a literate nation of 11 million people. It is a small enough
that posters are an eminently viable medium for reaching wide
audiences. Havana is a cosmopolitan capital of 1 million, which has
been a cultural nexus between the old world and the new ever since the
"discovery" of the Americas in 1492. As inEurope and the United
States, lithographs appeared in Cuba in the mid 1800's. The emergence
of a booming film industry in the 1940s - and posters publicizing those
films - led to the first distinctly domestic style. In 1943 the U.S.
exhibit "Originals of Tamigraph: Silk Screen Originals," which included
55 works by 27 artists was a significant impetus for the emergence of
fine-art screenprinting in Cuba. This also spawned work of a distinctly
political nature, the birth of Cuban political poster art. During the
50s some artists applied their talents to printmaking, but it continued
to remain no more a significant cultural form than painting or
sculpture. However, it was the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista and the
immense national transformation that followed that led to the "golden
age" of Cuban posters. The non-commercial mass poster was the direct
fruit of the revolution, a conscious application of art in the service
of social improvement. State resources were allocated for a broad range
of cultural and artistic projects, and posters were the right medium at
the right time.z
ching wide
audiences. Havana is a cosmopolitan capital of 1 million, which has
been a cultural nexus between the old world and the new ever since the
"discovery" of the Americas in 1492. As inEurope and the United
States, lithographs appeared in Cuba in the mid 1800's. The emergence
of a booming film industry in the 1940s - and posters publicizing those
films - led to the first distinctly domestic style. In 1943 the U.S.
exhibit "Originals of Tamigraph: Silk Screen Originals," which included
55 works by 27 artists was a significant impetus for the emergence of
fine-art screenprinting in Cuba. This also spawned work of a distinctly
political nature, the birth of Cuban political poster art. During the
50s some artists applied their talents to printmaking, but it continued
to remain no more a significant cultural form than painting or
sculpture. However, it was the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista and the
immense national transformation that followed that led to the "golden
age" of Cuban posters. The non-commercial mass poster was the direct
fruit of the revolution, a conscious application of art in the service
of social improvement. State resources were allocated for a broad range
of cultural and artistic projects, and posters were the right medium at
the right time.
Poster production since the revolution
The vast majority of posters produced in Cuba have been under the
auspices of three agencies: Editora Politica, OSPAAAL (the
Organization in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin
America), and ICAIC (the Cuban Film Institute). Editora
Politica (EP) is the official publishing department of the Cuban
Communist Party, and is responsible for a wide range of (mostly)
domestic public information propaganda in the form of books, brochures,
billboards, and posters. In addition, many other agencies utilized the
resources and distribution powers of EP for their own work, including
FMC (the Federation of Cuban Women), the CNT (the National
Confederation of Workers), and OCLAE (the Latin American Students
Association). EP started out as the Commission of Revolutionary
Orientation (COR, 1962-1974), then became the Department of
Revolutionary Orientation (DOR, 1974-1984), and finally settled on
Editora Politica in 1985. OSPAAAL is officially a
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) recognized by the United Nations,
based in Havana, Cuba and with a board of representatives from all over
the world. It is the primary producer of international solidarity
posters in Cuba. Among its many activities has been the publication of
Tricontinental magazine since 1967. At its peak its circulation was
30,000 copies, produced in 4 different languages and mailed to 87
countries. Included in most issues were folded-up solidarity posters,
thus establishing the most effective international poster distribution
system in the world. ICAIC produces posters for all films made
in Cuba, and for many years also created publicity posters for foreign
films shown in Cuba as well. These posters were all of identical size
to fit in special kiosks throughout Havana. There are, of course, other
venues for poster production. The Taller Artistico Experimental de
Serigrafía Rene Portocarrero, founded in 1983, is a fine-art studio in
Havana, always abuzz with students and teachers. Other agencies also
have small shops, such as ICAP (Instituto Cubana de Amistad entre los
Pueblos, or the Cuban Institute for Friendship between the People). And
finally, there are small job shops that will produce work for any
commercial client.
Range of artistic content and style
One of the characteristics that separates Cuban poster art from that of
its historical antecedents - the Taller de
Grafica Popular in Mexico in the 1930's, Polish film and political
posters, and the state-sponsored posters of the Soviet Union and China - is the
wide range of content and style. This is the result of several factors,
including a long tradition of international influence in domestic
artwork and a revolutionary government that was relatively open to
experimentation and innovation. Although the "fine art" and "commercial
art" worlds continue to exist in Cuba, a significant amount of
resources and talent were funneled into challenging this capitalist
dichotomy. Instead of selling products, artists could actually make a
living using their skills to promote services and building community.
Posters publicized motorcycle-based health brigades, joining the sugar
harvest, working in the sugar mills efficiently, or planting healthy
fruits and vegetables on available land. Some crops, such as tobacco,
posed challenges; one poster pleads for "Your youthful hand" in helping
the harvest , but another warns that "Tobacco burns health." Sports,
education, and culture play a significant role; one poster for an armed
forces chess tournament displays a commitment to play for keeps,
another proudly proclaims "I am studying to be a teacher,"and a third
uses a decidedly take-no-prisoners approach in promoting a conference
on writers and artists.
International solidarity is an important part of the Cuban culture,
especially because the struggle against U.S. imperialism was being
fought on Cuban shores. This deep connection to other underdeveloped
countries struggling for self-determination resulted in many works
succinctly and elegantly showing resistance against colonialism and
U.S. imperialism. The persistent theme of "As in Viet Nam" underscores
a deep national determination to be as self-reliant, brave, and
resourceful as the people of Viet Nam, equating domestic food and
industrial production with the urgency of armed struggle.Although most
of the posters are produced in offset format, many of them (and all the
older ICAIC posters) were done in silkscreen, in limited numbers. Many
of the more popular ICAIC posters have been reissued, sometimes
multiple times, to meet the demand for sales. Almost all of the
stencils for the screenprinted posters were cut by hand, even many of
the ones that "look" like large-dot photostencils.
The current situation
Ever
since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc in the
mid-1990's, Cuba has been laboring under what has been officially
described as the "special period". Economically, the country went into
a tailspin, losing favorable trade agreements, oil and sugar subsidies,
and technical assistance almost overnight. Ever since then, Cuba has
followed a path of rebuilding its economy through international
tourism. Massive joint-venture projects with Spain, Canada, Brazil,
Mexico, and other nations have focused almost entirely on the hotel and
ancillary service industries. This process, though justifiable given
Cuba's limited options, has resulted in considerable distortion of the
cultural fabric. All the poster-producing agencies have had to
transform themselves from State subsidy to having to rely on
fee-for-service to become self-supporting. Although an organization
such as ICAIC may have a chance at pulling this off, agencies with an
explicit political message such as EP or OSPAAAL are withering on the
vine. This belt-tightening has affected art production in every way.
Even billboard design favors use of white space because ink is in short
supply.
This
difficult situation is compounded by a general disregard for
intellectual property rights by foreigners, especially the United
States. Because the U.S. government maintains such a hostile
relationship with Cuba, many people assume that even if copyright is
maintained it is unenforceable. All Cuban artists are acutely aware
that although their work, mostly done for little pay, is a desirable
commodity and can command high prices in the art market. Many Cuban
artists were able to produce clippings from Christie's and others
indicating sales of work in the over-$1000 range. This exploitation is
not just limited to the high-end market. For many years the web-based
sales catalog of Barnes and Noble
(a major U.S. bookseller) marketed over 30 unauthorized
digitally-reproduced "Cuban posters," many originally created by
OSPAAAL and ICAIC. More recently, CafePress.com (a commercial Web
portal for vendors) displayed products
using art by René Mederos and Félix Beltran, but removed them after
being asked to do so. Aside from exceptions such as the Center for
Cuban Studies, it is rare to see sales of originals or reproductions
done with the authorization of the producing artist or agency, not to
mention arrangements for compensation.
The task
ahead
Posters are a vital, expressive visual art which have historically been
a medium of choice for presenting oppositional voices. Unfortunately,
the timeless issues they raise are usually eclipsed by their short
lifespan in the public record. A variety of factors conspire to
dramatically limit the number of poster images which not only survive,
but are available to researchers, organizers, and the viewing public.
These include physical deterioration (bad ink/paper stability, staining
and tearing due to poor display techniques, fading from exposure to
sunlight, infestation by bugs and rot, damage from improper storage,
etc.), irreversible damage and loss (insecure storage resulting in fire
and water damage, posters being thrown out as trash), and privatization
(posters being bought up by collectors/dealers). Cuba is no exception.
As in the rest of the world, the very agencies which produced the works
had devoted little energy to preserving them. An example of this a
request by OSPAAAL in 1998 for display copies for an exhibit on Che
Guevara; the agency did not have eight of the 18 different posters they
had produced, and I was able to send down giant digital prints from
archives created by the Cuba Poster Project.
Because of the irreplaceable political and cultural heritage
represented by this ephemeral art, I have been working with other
independent poster curators (primarily Michael Rossman, an independent
archivist, and Carol Wells, of the Center for the Study of Political
Graphics in Los Angeles) to develop an approach for documenting and
cataloguing the images and information in such a way that these works
will forever remain potent voices of change. We seek to empower
poster-producing organizations to preserve their own visual history and
allow them to breathe new life into images that were created many years
ago. Because we are also concerned with preserving oppositional poster
art in general, we see the documentation of "small" collections to be
key pieces in the construction of a major archive of domestic and
international posters. Much of this is based on recent developments in
the digitization of images and databases that have only recently become
affordable to smaller collections. One of the wonderful features of a
digital catalog is that it is possible to build a complete "collection"
without possession of the actual artifact, thus freeing producing
agencies from the whole separate difficult task of poster collection
and conservation. An image-rich database means that poster images can
be quickly located and compared without reliance on curatorial memory
or access to the actual poster.