EXPLORE: Tania Bruguera
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Information and resources on this page were compiled by Alison Myers, Middle School Art Instructor at Chappelow Arts Magnet school in Evans, Colorado.
“Art is a space of vulnerability from which what is social is deconstructed
to construct what is human.” - Tania Bruguera
Overview
Tania Bruguera is an “Artivist.” The act of trying to reconcile the lived reality of the Cuban people with the image portrayed by the Cuban government (for which her father was an official) planted the seeds of activism in Tania when she was a child. She uses her work to question power, authority, and institutional inequity, with the ultimate goal of bringing people freedom of expression in order to create better realities. She has been detained, interrogated, and censored by the Cuban government for her performance art pieces, yet remains staunch in her pursuit for human rights and social awareness. As well as performances, she has established a community art center and other long term projects including INSTAR, (Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt).
Videos, Interviews, and Article
Radio Interview
Despite the thaw in US-Cuba relationships, one Havana artist says she has been “silenced as a lesson.”
(The World, 2015)
Videos
Tania Bruguera staged a campaign for President of Cuba as an art statement and urged others to do the same.
(Bruguera Estudio, 2020)
Tania Bruguera: The Artist as Activist and Citizen
An in-depth interview in which Bruguera discusses influences, historical contexts, and purposes of her art and artivism. She also talks about her projects and status in Cuba.
(Virtual Bodies, 2020)
Article
Bruguera Leaves Cuba in Exchange for the Release of 25 Prisoners
(Hypoallergic, 2021)
Additional Resources
(ART21, 2014)
Tania Bruguera: Cuban Artist and Politial Activist
(The Art Story)
(Artnet)
Topic for Further Inquiry
Cuba
Cuba is a country in the Caribbean with a long history intertwined with the United States. It was claimed in 1492 for Christopher Columbus for Spain colonizing the Taino people. It is a mostly urban area with a diverse culture derived from African, South American, European, and North American influences. Historically Cuba has made significant contributions in literature, music, and visual arts. In 1959, Revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro took political power . Castro controlled the country until 2008 followed by his brother Raul Castro and currently Miguel Diaz Canel. A constitution adopted in 2019 named the Communist party as the only legitimate political party.