Cuba to Host World Art Deco Congress

HAVANA TIMES — The World Art Deco Congress will be held in Havana from March 14 to 21, with the participation of architects and historians of that artistic style, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.

The event program will include lectures, exhibits, films from the 1930’s to the 1950’s; tours of emblematic Havana buildings (such as the Bacardi building in Havana Vieja, the current headquarters of Casa de las Americas, and Lopez Serrano apartments in the Vedado district).

The 12th edition of this Congress will be attended by more than 150 figures, including Sandra Cohen, the president of the International Collision Art Deco Societies; US academic Alastair Duncan, the creator of the Art Deco Complete Encyclopedia; and researcher Hermes Mallen, the author of the book Grandes casas de La Habana.

Art deco, present in all its forms on the island, flourished during the early decades of the twentieth century and covered facets of the design of clothes, jewelry, furniture and architecture.