MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban artist Hamlet Lavastida received the 2022 Contemporary Art Award given by Idealista, the most recognized real estate portal in Spain.
Lavastida, exiled since September 2021, won the award for his “República Penitenciaria” project.
As the artist himself defined, “`República Penitenciaria´ has to do with a fundamental thesis that is historical memory. It deals with the understanding of Cuban history. (…) It also tries to talk about the Cuban government, which has been in existence for almost 70 years, and fight against cultural stereotypes that do not reflect reality.”
The work addresses issues such as culture, politics, design, historiography, the public sphere… reflected from different media such as video, installations, collages and performances.
The prize, with the aim of supporting contemporary artistic production, consists of an economic endowment and the intervention by the artist with his work of the spaces in the real estate fairs in which Idealista participates.
As stated by the media ArtInformed, this week Lavastida will show the project awarded by Idealista at the Madrid Real Estate Exhibition (SIMA).
The exhibition, coordinated by Arte Global, consists of 21 illustrations of a selection of architectural structures used by the Cuban prison system to detain political prisoners, artists, intellectuals and cultural personalities critical of the regime in recent decades.
Hamlet Lavastida, one of the most recognized Cuban artists in the international arena
Lavastida, one of the most renowned Cuban artists in the field of international contemporary art, has exposed in institutions and museums in different parts of the world. Among them: Documenta, Kasel (2022); Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (2022); The OO Biennial, Havana (2018); ARTIUM and Basque Center-Museum of Contemporary Art, Vitoria-Gasteiz (2015).
Last June, after his return to Cuba from his residence at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien gallery in Berlin, he was arrested and transferred to the police headquarters, Villa Marista, Havana.
After months in jail, accused of inciting to commit a crime, the artist was deportee to Poland on September 25, with his partner, the writer Katherine Busquet, who was also a victim of harassment by the Castro dictatorship.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +1 (786) 316-2072, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
