Les images dans le paysage iconographique cubain : quelles redéfinitions à l’heure de l’ouverture ?

Abstract

The Cuban landscape is a singular visual universe born with the Revolution. Though adversiting does not exist on the island, there are manifold images of different kinds—mural paintings (in the pure Latin-American tradition of muralism) and billboards enhancing the glory of the regime—that create a dense mesh covering the territory. Most of these works are emblems of the revolutionary ideology and reveal the dictatorial context in which they were created. They have gradually become part of the Cuban popular imagery that has provided a horizon of expectations for tourists and foreigners. However, in recent years, some have observed the apparition and the development of unauthorised graphic designs, from graffiti to mural paintings, which carry a message of emancipation—or even rejection of- the Castro regime.

Keywords

• city
• urbanism
• public space
• arts
• protest