Artists protest against Cuban artist Tania Bruguera's detention
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Version 0 of 1. Fourteen of the world’s most prominent artists, including Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor and painter Howard Hodgkin, have publicly condemned the detention of Cuban artist Tania Bruguera. In an open letter to the Guardian on Monday, the group of artists – which includes four Turner prizewinners – collectively expressed their concern at Bruguera’s arrest and the subsequent legal charges filed against her after she attempted to stage a performance about free speech in Havana’s Revolution Square in late December. The piece, titled #YoTambienExijo – which translates as I Also Demand – was planned in response to renewed diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. As part of the work, which was performance and protest at the same time, she had intended to get citizens to speak freely about their visions for Cuba in the iconic square at the heart of the capital. Despite being refused permission by the state-run arts council and the national revolutionary police, Bruguera tried to carry out the performance regardless – a move that resulted in her arrest and the confiscation of her passport. The artist, who usually flits between Cuba and New York, now cannot leave the country and may face charges of disrupting public order, resisting police and inciting to commit a crime. Related: Cuba’s detentions of performance artist Tania Bruguera condemned | Letter from Tomma Abts, Howard Hodgkin, Anish Kapoor, Jeremy Deller and 10 other artists Bruguera is one of the world’s most well-known performance artists and has built her career on often controversial works that examine power and control – often confronting the political mechanics and history of Cuba. This includes her 2009 work performed in Havana, titled Tatlin’s Whisper – in reference to the Russian avant garde artist Vladimir Tatlin – where she set up a stage and offered “1 minute free of censorship per speaker”. Other examples include her piece at the Tate Modern in 2008 when visitors were aggressively marshalled by mounted police in the Turbine Hall. In the open letter, whose signatories include Turner-prize winners Simon Starling, Mark Leckey, Jeremy Deller and Elizabeth Price, the artists argue that Bruguera’s aim in her work “is not a question of direct political action but to open our eyes to the injustices and social issues in the world and to expose the mechanisms of power and protocol that shape human behaviour”. Bruguera is now waiting to find out whether the Cuban authorities will impose an administrative measure – which carries a fine and is considered an admission of guilt, an option the artist has said publicly she does not think is just – or whether her case will be brought to trial. Catherine Wood, a curator at Tate who worked with Bruguera on two occasions and has been corresponding with the artist and her family since she was detained, said she was very concerned. “She is not an artist who shies away from complication or controversy,” said Wood. “I am worried about her because she really puts herself on the line in her work. She tried to stage a similar work in the biennale in Havana years ago, which was again people having a moment of free speech in the public square, and that got her in trouble with the government back then. I think she is very brave and knew what was at stake in staging this latest work but felt compelled to do it, given the way things are going politically in Cuba.” They have to understand they cannot throw out of the country everyone who bothers them Wood added: “Tania has deliberately retained her Cuban passport even though it made her life more difficult – she is very fiercely loyal to her Cuban identity but at the same time angry about what is going on there, so it is quite a conflicted relationship. She is very passionate.” The curator said Bruguera is “constantly surveyed and tracked by the authorities” and that international attention and support to put pressure on the Cuban authorities is essential. “Tania feels very alone because all her communications are being very heavily monitored,” said Wood. “One of the main anxieties she has is that the authorities are trying to claim she’s not an artist, they are accusing her of being a spy and saying she has other motivations that are not creative. So for her, the support of other artists who can speak out freely is really significant for her and for her case.” Bruguera also spoke out about her case in a recent interview with 14ymedio, an independent Cuban news outlet, and said she had struggled to even find a lawyer in Havana willing to represent her. “I never thought it would generate such a disproportionate response,” she said. “Most significant was that of the president of the National Council of Arts himself, Ruben del Valle, who told me after two lengthy meetings that he washed his hands of what might happen to me legally – or anything else.” The artist added: “I make art that appropriates the tools of the political and tries to generate political moments, an art through which one speaks directly to power and in its own language … what I have experienced in the last weeks has changed my life. I will never stop being an artist, but maybe now I have to be here. They have to understand that they cannot throw out of the country everyone who bothers them.” |