• Submitted by: lena campos
• Events
• 04 / 22 / 2012

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The 2012 edition of the Havana Biennial will be held in May under the slogan “Artistic practices and social imaginary”. Organized by the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Arts Center, the biennial will bring artists from Latin America, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world.

The arts gathering takes place in international circumstances where debates regarding the scenarios of contemporary art have substantially changed and acquired new meanings for artists, institutions and different audiences.

Besides fine arts exhibitions, the Havana Biennial will include lectures, workshops and master classes, documentaries and video screenings, and its social nature is strengthened by delving into the thinking of people in different communities. The purpose of the Havana Art Biennial is for young people to identify with the activities of the event so that it becomes a mirror for Cuban society.

On this occasion the gathering’s curatorial team has proposed the assessment of the relationship between visual productions and the social imaginary, referring to the way people imagine their social space and express themselves through cultural and historical references

The Havana Art Biennial takes place in Havana every two years, and aims at promoting the Third World contemporary art. It is considered as an important forum for Latin American and Caribbean artists, though arts work by artists from all over the world are accepted. Havana becomes a large gallery in which different genres, themes and points of views converge, attracting foreign artists. Exhibitions, installations and performances take place at numerous museums, galleries, streets and other institutions.

The first Havana Art Biennial was established in 1984, long before the worldwide boom of biennials that emerged in the mid-nineties.