Statement of the Ambassador of Cuba, Yanet Stable Cárdenas in the exhibition "Creation in the Moment without Past" dedicated to the Cuban painter, Leandro Soto
Good evening.
I want to start by thanking the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies and the wonderful team that worked tirelessly to make this exhibition possible. We appreciate the presence of distinguished guests who are joining us tonight. Senator Dr. Hon. Shantal M. Munro-Knight, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office for Cultural Affairs, the Hon. Sandra V. Husbands, Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Business Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Hon John Andrew King; Senator Hon Trevor Prescod; to the esteemed Alies Jordan, Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, to the esteemed officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, to the distinguished colleagues of the Diplomatic Corp, to our dear friends of the Association of Solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela.
I want to make special mention in my thanks to Dr. Grisel Pujalá, wife of Leandro Soto for whom I ask a round of applause. Gracias Grisel por estar con nosotros.
Distinguished visitors:
Thank you for accompanying the art of Leandro Soto, but above all for accompanying the authenticity and humanism that Leandro expressed through his artistic work and as an educator.
Cuba, specifically the city of Cienfuegos saw the birth of Leandro Soto on March 1, 1956, who sealed his personal and artistic life, challenging the archaic to make way for the new and revolutionary manifestations.
Soto was one of the leading figures of the influential “Volumen Uno”, in the decade of the 1980s, and constitutes a reference for his generation and subsequent ones in working with indigenous and Afro-Cuban heritage. He was also credited with being the first performance and installation artist on the island. He is counted among the few amount of Cuban artist that decides to use ethnography in his art practice.
His work, which leads us to 'Reimagining the Past Celebrating the Future,' à propos the thought and action that guided Barbados Emancipation Season, has been exhibited in countries such as Japan, Argentina, Spain, the Czech Republic, Canada , India, the United States, Senegal, Italy, Mexico, Panama and today in Barbados, a sister country for which he felt and worked and of course, in our beloved Cuba.
I want to highlight the humanist and educational facet of Leandro Soto. Leandro designed his own teaching method for indigenous children using and reviving their ancestral traditions. He founded an art school for indigenous children in Tabasco, Mexico, an extension of the one he had in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and with it, he formed a generation of indigenous artists from Tabasco who are professional artists to this day, and all of them are already over 40 years old. His greatest legacy is that these professional artists, today also teach art to the new generations.
His authenticity as an artist and fervent educator also took his to other Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. In Barbados, he gave workshops in the communities and helped train set designers. He worked with the Israel Lovell Foundation on community programs.
With Leandro Soto we appeal to what we are and what we should not stop being.
Creation in the Moment without Past leads us to the Creation, to the Moment and to the Past, to talk about the Future.
Thank you so much and enjoy this special night.