CubaCreativa [Crónicas GUYANA]

As part of the project CubaCreativa [2014]

ABSTRACT

Creativity is the capacity of human beings to generate new ideas. It tends to flourish in extreme or crisis moments, although not exclusively. When creativity emerges as a response to emergency or scarcity conditions, it acquires predominance in all areas of cultural, economic, and social organization, as is the case in Cuba. This artistic research project focuses on social creativity, heritage, tradition, popular culture, and the culture of survival. Each presentation of this collaborative and multimedia project varies in both format and media, from the organization of a seminar, an academic publication, or an interactive installation.

CubaCreativa [Crónicas GUYANA] is a study of the merchandise traffic that still exists between Cuba and Guyana, through the so-called mules. The artist traveled to Guyana with a family that has carried out this activity on multiple occasions and generated meticulous documentation of their purchasing processes, packaging mechanisms, and customs strategies. The result of this project took a video story format that was published on the two most popular social networks in Cuba at that time: Facebook and Instagram.

STATEMENT

In the last eight years, I have developed an artistic and investigative project in different international contexts called CubaCreativa. This project pays special attention to social actions and phenomena that constitute innovation practices. It is interested in documenting the processes or procedures with which creative solutions are reached, given that these in themselves can be infinitely repeated, readapted, and enhanced to the socio-cultural characteristics of each context and its economic circumstances. In that sense, more than the resulting physical object, it is the process and the singularity of social thought that is the focus of interest.

CubaCreativa is also interested in showing local practices and phenomena related to the informal economy, alternative networks, and creative individuals or groups that work beyond the artistic field. Taking Cuban reality as a reference, the project explores, documents, and archives the terms and concepts used in each culture to refer to creative practices. In this way, it makes visible how these creative alternatives are the product of a tradition or have emerged from a culture of survival and how art can intervene in these spaces and creative processes.

CubaCreativa has the potential to grow connected to the daily life of the context in which it is developed. As part of his research, Nestor Siré has formed a photographic and videographic archive in constant development, documenting creative practices worldwide. The artist has given this archive the name iA [Informal Archive]. It is online, in wiki format, and makes social creativity and its global connections visible.

CubaCreativa [Crónicas GUYANA] is a study of the merchandise traffic that still exists between Cuba and Guyana, through the so-called mules. Because of its visa-free status for Cuban citizens, some 3,000 people traveled in 2018 to Georgetown intending to make purchases, especially of clothes and footwear, and then profit from their sales on the Island. Guyana has a network of stores where these products are acquired at very low prices, while in Cuba it is sometimes difficult to find them in the formal market. The artist traveled to Guyana with a family that has carried out this activity on multiple occasions and generated detailed documentation of their purchasing processes, packaging mechanisms, and customs strategies.

The result of this project took a video story format that was posted on the two most popular social networks in Cuba at that time: Facebook and Instagram. The artist intended to facilitate the way to other Cubans who wish to perform this same activity through this video, which can be seen as an instructive DIY video.

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