Just like every year, Cuba’s largest crafts fair is back. December 4-20, the Pabexpo exposition center will host the 19th edition of Fiart, an event which attracts artisans from across the world to the Cuban capital, in order to showcase and sell their products, ranging from textiles and footwear, to all manner of decorative objects.
The province of Matanzas and ceramics will be the main attractions of the fair, as a way of awarding the discipline well-deserved recognition within the field of art, and at the same time, ensuring its presence in our daily lives.
On this occasion Fiart 2015 has 62 international stands, 33 institutional representatives from across the entire country and 254 artisans with representatives from almost all Latin American nations, including Peru, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador – with the largest number of participants – and others such as Spain, India, China and Romania. The customary stands of record label Egrem, la Casa del Abanico, Artex, Génesis, and the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), etc, will once again be present in this edition.
Almost all Latin American countries will be represented at Fiart-2015, among them Peru, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. Photo: Anabel Díaz
In addition to the usual exposition and sale of handicrafts, exhibitions of bonsai trees and ceramic works, this year visitors will also find a tribute to Alejandro Alonso, director of the Museum of Ceramic Art, an award ceremony for winners of the national ceramic art competition, and the Gramos exhibit, by artist Raúl Valladares in the recently restored Víctor Manuel Gallery in the Plaza de la Catedral.
However, there will also be spaces for reflection and debate. Under the title, Ceramic Art: the useful and the aesthetic, a series of theoretical events will be held December 8-11 during Fiart.
Kicking off the series will be a conference entitled “Impact of ceramic art on the development of visual arts in Matanzas,” by expert Helga Montalván. Also taking place will be book presentations and conferences dedicated to ceramics, museums and the development and evolution of this art form around the country.
During the fair, organized annually by the Cuban Cultural Goods Fund with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Cuban and foreign exhibitors come together in an important exchange on craft techniques, quality, abilities and the excellent offers which always attract a large and diverse public to Pabexpo.
(Granma)