Art and Havana's Experience of the "Special Period"

Location

King Building 239

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-27-2018 12:00 PM

End Date

4-27-2018 1:20 PM

Abstract

My project takes a multi-disciplinary perspective to understand the dynamics that emerged from the “Special Period” (a time of major economic crisis) in Cuba. Specifically, I explore how people in Havana used the production of art to embody the “resolve, fight, achieve, and invent” mentality encouraged by the Cuban government in these years. My work is divided into three sections, with each taking a different perspective to analyze art during the Special Period. These sections include: an examination of how economic reform encouraged production of art in the tourist market; a psychological analysis of how art became a form of coping during this period; and a look at the changes in the field of professional art. Most importantly, my research utilizes interviews of Cuban people in Havana conducted this year during Winter Term in order to make more tangible the lingering effects of the Special Period in that city.

Keywords:

Cuba, The Special Period, art, psychology, healing, memory, economic reform

Notes

Session II, Panel 5 - Historias | Latinoamericanas
Moderator: Claire Solomon, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature

Major

Latin American Studies; Hispanic Studies; Psychology

Advisor(s)

Ana María Díaz Burgos, Latin American Studies; Hispanic Studies
Patricia deWinstanley, Psychology

Project Mentor(s)

Ana María Díaz Burgos, Latin American Studies
Claire Solomon, Comparative Literature
Patrick O'Connor, Latin American Studies; Comparative Literature

April 2018

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Apr 27th, 12:00 PM Apr 27th, 1:20 PM

Art and Havana's Experience of the "Special Period"

King Building 239

My project takes a multi-disciplinary perspective to understand the dynamics that emerged from the “Special Period” (a time of major economic crisis) in Cuba. Specifically, I explore how people in Havana used the production of art to embody the “resolve, fight, achieve, and invent” mentality encouraged by the Cuban government in these years. My work is divided into three sections, with each taking a different perspective to analyze art during the Special Period. These sections include: an examination of how economic reform encouraged production of art in the tourist market; a psychological analysis of how art became a form of coping during this period; and a look at the changes in the field of professional art. Most importantly, my research utilizes interviews of Cuban people in Havana conducted this year during Winter Term in order to make more tangible the lingering effects of the Special Period in that city.