Performance Art in Cuba

Action art and Live art in Cuba.

Arte de acción y arte en vivo en Cuba.

The Cuban Performance Art scene emerged from Havana and its surroundings during the mid-1970s and, particularly, the 1980s. A period in which socially engaged art became a chosen language for the first generation of artists in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. Although Cuban Performance Art has been influenced by multiple topics – from theater to politics, religion, and academia – it had an everlasting impact on Cuban society and cultural landscape of the time. Its resonance with Cuban artists and people of Cuban descent has been present from then to now around the United States (the Cuban Americans) and abroad.^[1] Live art practices, such as happenings and performances, developed in and alongside art schools on the island and occurred in tandem with new media and conceptual art movements in other parts of the world. Cuban Performance Art is distinct due to the region’s political situation, which profoundly affected the arts and culture and the lives of artists. For many artists living in a context under political language, performance art is a creative expression that allows them to communicate and engage with certain topics and ideas. (Wikipedia)