Cuban film screening as part of Miami 5 campaign
On 27 April, Birkbeck will host a screening of materials from the Havana Cultura website, based on interviews with contemporary Cuban artists, at the Cinema at...
On 27 April, Birkbeck, University of London will host a screening of materials from the Havana Cultura website, based on interviews with contemporary Cuban artists, at the Cinema at 43 Gordon Square, London at 6:30pm. Following the screening, Cuban artists, Lesbia Vent DuMois and Gustavo Diaz Sosa, will discuss the significance of cultural life in Cuba with Birkbeck’s Professor of Material and Visual Culture, Annie E. Coombes.
Both artists, and those represented in the film, as well as others working in Britain (including Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller and Rasheed Araeen), have donated work to the ‘Beyond the Frame’ exhibition (Gallery 27, Cork Street, 23 -28th April) which is supporting the campaign for the release of the Miami 5, a group of Cuban citizens who have been imprisoned in the United States for over 15 years on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit espionage to conspiracy to commit murder. There is an ongoing campaign for the release of the Miami 5 on the basis that the five men were framed by the US government. The campaign has the support of 12 Nobel Prize winners, Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Antonio Guerrero, one of the Miami Five who has taken up art work in prison and whose work will be exhibited in ‘Beyond the Frame’ said: "The long imprisonment hasn't been able to destroy any of the principles on which we were formed. The long imprisonment has been defeated by love and by art."
Professor Coombes said: “We are delighted to be holding this event at Birkbeck. This event and the ‘Beyond the Frame’ exhibition are clear examples of the role of art and visual culture in drawing attention to cases of injustice and increasing pressure for change.”
The film screening and discussion is part of a series of events being organised in London in April and May to raise funds for the Miami 5 campaign.
The event is free and there is no need to book. Entry will be on a first come, first seated basis.
About the artists:
Lesbia Vent DuMois:
Lesbia Vent DuMois was born in 1932. Her work includes illustration, painting and engraving. She has served as Director of Fine Arts at Casa de las Americas in Havana and is a founder member of the Cuban Writers and Artists Union.
She has had many solo exhibitions in Cuba and throughout the world and her works are held in collections worldwide.
Gustavo Diaz Sosa:
Gustavo Diaz Sosa was born in Cuba in 1983. He held his first solo exhibition at the age of 12. Since 2008 he has worked from Madrid, Spain. He has collaborated in a variety of projects including murals in Cuba and animation, photography, film and T.V. projects in Spain. Diaz Sosa has had solo shows in Washington D.C., Spain, France, Italy and Cuba and has received many major awards.
Image: artwork by Lesbia Vent DuMois