De donde crece la palma (From where the palm tree grows) is a special collaboration between Havana Art Weekend and La Pera Projects that will present the work of young Cuban artists working inside and outside of Cuba. The collaboration consists of two drops to be featured during August. This first capsule presents the artists Priscilla Aleman (Miami, 1991), Tatiana Mesa (Havana, 1981), and Grethell Rasúa (Havana, 1983), with a series of works resulting from processes of observation, compilation and reinvention, dialogues about the private and the public from intimate perspectives.
Priscilla Aleman's training in archaeology influences her sculptural installations, enabling her to retrace ideas around the afterlife, Pre-Columbian cosmology, and the interplay of cultures from the Global South. Bringing an understanding of traditions in the Americas and its environmental history, Aleman crafts her own sanctified installations as deified monuments and memorials. The artworks presented here are a series of collages that encase natural materials in vintage National Geographic magazines in high gloss resin.
Cubiertas de deseos (Covered in Wishes) is a project that Grethell Rasúa started in 2008 in Havana, where she photographed several facades in Cuba, capturing the color changes and decorative modifications made to them over time. Most of these houses were destroyed on the inside and suffer from serious construction problems. Unable to move out or renovate their homes, owners stayed at their places for decades against their will. Nevertheless, they maintained their thirst for improvement and concentrated on beautifying their facades with colors and resources that, although not ideal, grant the illusion of having found a better home.
Tatiana Mesa's sensitivity to things commonly unnoticed in the spaces of the 'outdoors' and the 'public' has generated a body of work ranging from collecting abandoned or forgotten objects, performing ephemeral actions in unexpected places, and placing personal items throughout the city. Besos (2001-2020) are part of an ongoing performance where the artist kisses statues. In her words: "Besos (kisses) are an approach to the city, and its places. A journey searching for love, ideals, and utopia. The statue not only represents a figure that relates to a specific context and moment in history but also is a material, a height, a situation. Each kiss is an experience that makes me move, search, and rehearse a particular form of togetherness."
*** Half of the profits from the sales will be donated to the Solo el Amor (SEA), an independent initiative based in Havana, in solidarity with the current moment that Cuban people are experiencing. SEA is a support network created by Cuban friends in the arts, inside and outside of Cuba, whose mission is to deliver hand-in-hand donations to those most in need in different provinces of the country. Among the founding members is the artist Martika Minipunto, who was one of the artists commissioned in the last edition of Havana Art Weekend.
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