Havana’s Villa Manuela Gallery Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Yanelys Nuñez Leyva

villa-manuelaHAVANA TIMES — Havana’s Villa Manuela Gallery is a highly welcoming place located on H Street, between 17 and 19 streets, Vedado.

Attached to the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC), this institution is well equipped to house different kinds of exhibitions, something which explains its good reputation among artists, critics and art experts.

Exhibiting works in its gallery spaces confers a high degree of distinction on any artist within our cultural milieu.

Recently, the gallery looked back on its 10 years of operation and, to celebrate the occasion, opened a joint exhibition on July 15th.

Titled 10 años, 95 exposiciones (“10 Years, 95 Exhibitions”), the exhibition gathers works by some of the 198 renowned artists who have displayed their works at the gallery between 1996 and 2014.

Rene Peña, Mabel Poblet, Rene Francisco, Sandra Ramos, Reinerio Tamayo, Jose Villa Soberon, Pedro de Oraa, Ernesto Rancaño, Abel Barroso, Aime García, Juan Carlos Alom, Alexandre Arrechea, Belkis Ayon, Choco, Roberto Diago, Ernesto Javier Fernandez, Ines Garrido y Jorge Lopez Pardo, make up the group of brilliant artists whose works comprise the exhibition.

The works, including video art pieces, photographs, paintings, installations, engravings, sculptures and other medias, were as diverse as the group of participating artists.

The issues addressed encompassed different preoccupations and artistic perspectives.

The works will be on display at the gallery until the end of August. The exhibition is an opportunity for those who are unfamiliar with this space to have a sense of the work of this important gallery, which not only exhibits the works of artists linked to UNEAC but also relies on different generations of artists (from Havana and other provinces) for its curatorial work.

At the opening, a performance by singer-songwriter Kelvis Ochoa in the small patio of the gallery prompted dancing, laughter and many people to sing along the artist, creating a relaxed, fraternal and altogether different space.

Yanelys Nuñez

Yanelys Nuñez Leyva: Writing is to expose oneself, undress before the inquisitive eyes of all. I like to write, not because I have developed a real fondness for nudity, but because I love composing words, thinking of stories, phrases that touch, images that provoke different feelings. Here I have a place to talk about art, life, me. In the end, feeling good about what you do is what matters; either with or without clothing.