LAUSANNE.- The exhibition Art Brut CUBA takes us back to Cuba four decades after Art Inventif à Cuba was held at the Collection de l’Art Brut in 1983. The earlier show was curated by Samuel Feijóo (1914–1992), a leading figure of Cuban cultural life – he was a writer, poet, publisher, ethnologist, painter, self-taught draughtsman and adviser to Cuba’s Ministry of Culture.

The 1983 exhibition stemmed from Jean Dubuffet’s wish to show, at the Collection de l’Art Brut, works by self-taught Cuban artists in the collection of his friend, Feijóo. It featured pieces by more than 30 artists from Villa Clara, all of whom were members of Signos, the group founded by Feijóo in the late 1960s to showcase popular Cuban art and literature.

But why is this particular country deserving of our interest once again? Because its insular nature, its history and its territory – long isolated from the rest of the world for political and economic reasons – make this island a fertile environment for the production of creations unaffected by outside influences. For those same reasons, it is also much more difficult in Cuba than elsewhere to depart from collective norms and establish artistic individuality.

Now, 41 years later, Art Brut CUBA brings together a selection of drawings and paintings by the artists who appeared in the original exhibition. It also features works by contemporary Cuban outsider artists promoted by Riera Studio in Havana and shown for the first time at the Collection de l’Art Brut. In all, the new exhibition contains 266 works of different kinds: drawings, paintings, collages, assemblages, finery and photographs.

The practice of recycling or repurposing materials and ordinary objects for creative purposes, which is a characteristic feature of Art Brut, is particularly evident in Cuba, where the artists featured here lack almost everything. Nonetheless, their endless imagination, ingenuity and creative drive allow them to exploit, transform and repurpose these assorted materials to create remarkable and incredibly expressive works. The themes they reflect echo their own experiences, the economic, social and political realities of their country, their personal worlds, and their obsessions. And what makes these creations so surprising is that they all present a facet far removed from standard conceptions of Cuba, which is still essentially controlled by the state.

Curated by Sarah Lombardi, director, Collection de l’Art Brut

PUBLICATION

Art Brut CUBA, under the direction of Sarah Lombardi, with texts by Derbis Campos, Andrea Dal Lago, Edward M. Gómez, Sarah Lombardi, Rosmy Porter, Samuel Riera and Michel Thévoz, Lausanne/Milan, Collection de l’Art Brut/5 Continents Editions, 2024, 208 pages, more than 150 color plates, bilingual French/English edition

LES ÂMES VAGABONDES - PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

To coincide with the Art Brut CUBA show, the Collection de l’Art Brut will present a selection of photographs by Thomas Szczepanski and Lorenzo Valmontone offering a glimpse into the world of four Cuban outsider artists: Miguel Ramón Morales Díaz, Josvedy Jove Junco, Federico García Cortízas and Damián Valdés Dilla.

The exhibition, entitled Les âmes vagabondes, features black-and-white portraits of artists whose works are shown in the exhibition Art Brut CUBA, along with images of the places where they live and work, bringing these little-known figures out of the shadows.

In addition, a short film takes us deep into the daily lives of these artists, helping us to make sense of their environment and grasp the meaning and significance of their work.

Thomas Szczepanski is a cinematographer and director. Known for his insatiable curiosity, he explores the world through both fiction and documentary filmmaking, driven by a belief that the two are mutually reinforcing.

Lorenzo Valmontone is a freelance photographer, director and video editor working primarily in portraiture.

This is their second collaboration, following on from AYA, a critically acclaimed feature-length documentary that was nominated for a Solothurn Film Festival award in 2022. Filmed in Calais, France, against the backdrop of the acute migration and social crisis, the film follows the daily life of Zimako, a migrant from Togo who is taken in by Lydie, a precariously employed woman in her fifties.