A Collective Fabric on a Cane Loom: a Weaving Workshop by Marta Palau in the 1986 Bienal de La Habana. (17th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Checa-Gismero, Paloma
• Is Part Of: Journal of modern craft. Volume 15:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 275
• Page End: 292
• Publication Date: 2022-11-17
• Subjects: Paloma Checa-Gismero -- art biennial -- craft -- decolonial aesthetics -- Marta Palau; Handicraft -- Periodicals; Handicraft -- History -- Periodicals; Industrial arts -- Periodicals; Decorative arts -- Periodicals; 745.205
• DOI: 10.1080/17496772.2022.2149115
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-6772

Abstract

Abstract: This essay addresses the inclusion of artist-run craft workshops in the second iteration of the Bienal de La Habana (1986), held in Cuba's capital city. Advertised as spaces for technical training and the cultivation of subaltern solidarity, these events offered crucial opportunities for so-called Third World artists to meet, learn new skills, and develop an international reputation within the field of craft. As part of a larger effort to present before international audiences an anti-colonial aesthetics that favored production over reception, the Bienal included objects produced in collaboration with local participants. This article focuses on a workshop led by Spanish-Mexican artist Marta Palau in October and November 1986, and centers on the role that materials, process, and relations of production can play in emancipatory approaches to artistic practice.