Cuba’s late and gradual incorporation into the internet, as well as the continuing limitations on access to technologies, have shaped the ways in which digital art is produced, presented and distributed. While for most of the world’s citizens being online is a matter of course, on the island it is not, since access to the internet is recent, unstable, restricted and expensive. Artists move between offline and online spaces (virtual and physical) without apparent conflict, a unique characteristic extended to all social and cultural practices.

This has given rise to some peculiar forms of digital interaction and distribution; a series of alternative phenomena have emerged that are products of social creativity. The most popular is the “Paquete Semanal” (Weekly Package), a collection of one-terabyte files, which is distributed person-to-person across the country and covers a wide variety of digital entertainment media. Within the Paquete Semanal there is the !!!Sección ART, a digital exhibition space that presents art projects on a monthly basis through the folder structures.

The Disconnected Experiences project addresses the Cuban art scene with a proposal for an approach to digital practices, cultural experiences and the adaptation of technologies. In parallel to its online presence in Ars Electronica, Disconnected Experiences will be exhibited offline through !!!Sección ARTE, in the Paquete Semanal, with an approximate reach of 10 million users in Cuba.

Video

Garden Cuba: Disconnected Experiences / CLIC Cuba-Europe, EUNIC Cuba, European Union, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU), Habana Espacios Creativos (CU), Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU), !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credit: Garden Cuba

Garden Cuba: Disconnected Experiences / CLIC Cuba-Europe, EUNIC Cuba, European Union, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU), Habana Espacios Creativos (CU), Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU), !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credit: Garden Cuba

Garden Cuba: Disconnected Experiences / CLIC Cuba-Europe, EUNIC Cuba, European Union, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU), Habana Espacios Creativos (CU), Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU), !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credit: Garden Cuba

Garden Cuba: Disconnected Experiences / CLIC Cuba-Europe, EUNIC Cuba, European Union, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU), Habana Espacios Creativos (CU), Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU), !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credit: Garden Cuba

Garden Cuba: Disconnected Experiences / CLIC Cuba-Europe, EUNIC Cuba, European Union, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU), Habana Espacios Creativos (CU), Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU), !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credit: Garden Cuba

Disconnected Experiences, CLIC Cuba-Europe EUNIC Cuba European Union Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU) Habana Espacios Creativos (CU) Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU) !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credits: Steffen Köhn & Nestor Siré

Disconnected Experiences, CLIC Cuba-Europe EUNIC Cuba European Union Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU) Habana Espacios Creativos (CU) Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU) !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credits: Nestor Siré

Disconnected Experiences, CLIC Cuba-Europe EUNIC Cuba European Union Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU) Habana Espacios Creativos (CU) Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU) !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credits: Nestor Siré

Disconnected Experiences, CLIC Cuba-Europe EUNIC Cuba European Union Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (CU) Habana Espacios Creativos (CU) Asociación Hermanos Saíz (CU) !!!Sección ARTE (CU), Credits: Marla Cruz Linares

ZurückWeiter

Disconnected Experiences in !!!Sección ARTE [No. 35]

Maurice Haedo Sanabria (CU), Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas (MINIPUNTO) (CU), Asniel S. Herrera González (CU), Pavel Méndez Hernández (CU), Javier Montenegro Naranjo (CU) and Miguel Alejandro Nicolás Díaz (CU), Bryan J. Romero García (CU) 

Disconnected Experiences proposes an approach to cultural experiences and digital practices that confluence offline and online space (virtual and physical) without apparent conflict in the Cuban context.

Disconnected Experiences of digital practices in Cuba

Nestor Siré (CU), Cristina Figueroa Vives (CU), Jorge Fernández (CU), Yusnier Mentado (CU), Maurice Haedo Sanabria (CU), Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas (CU), Asniel S. Herrera González (CU), Pavel Méndez Hernández (CU), Javier Montenegro Naranjo and Miguel Alejandro Nicolás Díaz (CU), Bryan J. Romero García (CU)

Disconnected Experiences of digital practices in Cuba is a video that will gather the impressions of everyone involved in the project, including the curator, the organizing committee, the jury and the selected artists.

Chuli HERRERA 2020-2021

Chuli HERRERA (CU)

My painting is indebted to the great masters of painting who have had an impact on visual memory and collective culture. In this sense, social networks are a repository in which the visual culture of our time is poured out in real-time.

 COPINCHA 

 Maurice Haedo Sanabria (CU) 

COPINCHA is a hackerspace located in Centro Habana. It is a self-managed and self-moderated community, interested in socializing solutions of common benefit through free and open uses of technologies.

Expansion of a Critical Mind 

Bryan J. Romero García  (CU)

The artist sets out his projects like Narcissus contemplating his reflection. Through the use of digital tools, the artist has created, analyzed, questioned, and rehearsed a universe that reveals his ethical and existentialist concerns.

Oleaje (Swells)

Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas (MINIPUNTO) (CU)

In Oleaje we have tried to discover routes to make fragmented and symbolic cartography of Cuba from a performative practice that mixes editing, narrative, and representation.

Self-portrait

Pavel Méndez Hernández  (CU)

I believe in the power of art to de-automatize the gaze and my mission is to transform that aptitude into action. I develop philosophical works that focus on the human being, on the prejudices and external predispositions that underlie their experience.

The Solar Moose

Javier Montenegro Naranjo (CU) & Miguel Alejandro Nicolás Díaz  (CU)

The Solar Moose creates videogames that aim to generate a user experience that goes beyond the game.

Credits

Garden Curator: Nestor Siré
Steering Group: Jorge Peralta and Michael M. Thoss
Coordinator: Raquel Ávila
Jury: Cristina Figueroa Vives, Jorge Fernández and Yusnier Mentado
Assistant: Yainet Rodríguez