Words For Art Dr Damian Smith

Project

The Havana Biennale

Curator of the Australian Pavilion at the 13th Bienal de la Habana, after four years working in Cuba.

Jacinto Herrera with Dr Damian Smith, Havana, 2019
Jacinto Herrera with Dr Damian Smith, Havana, 2019
Period
2015 – 2019
On the Atlas
Havana
Service
Curatorial

Ten Australian artists, in the Casa de Asia in Old Havana, under the title The Construction of the Possible.

Words For Art curated the Australian Pavilion at the 13th Bienal de la Habana, 12 April – 12 May 2019. The exhibition capped Intercambio, a five-year intercultural research project developed with the Wifredo Lam Centre of Contemporary Art, and placed contemporary Australian art within the Biennale’s continuing focus on the Global South.

Film The Construction of the Possible – Australian Pavilion, 13th Bienal de la Habana

Installation view, Casa de Asia: Clare McCracken, Glitches, 2019; Ian Haig, Hershey Experimental Batch, 2019; Rushdie Anwar, I Am Not From East or West….My Place is Placeless, series 2018
Installation view, Casa de Asia: Clare McCracken, Glitches, 2019; Ian Haig, Hershey Experimental Batch, 2019; Rushdie Anwar, I Am Not From East or West….My Place is Placeless, series 2018

The artists Australian Pavilion · Casa de Asia

  • Mia Salsjö
  • Rushdi Anwar
  • Angela Tiatia
  • Robyn Latham
  • Ben Morieson
  • Riza Manalo
  • Ian Haig
  • Martine Corompt
  • Mick Douglas
  • Dominic Redfern
  • Clare McCracken
Mia Salsjö, ‘Modes of Translation’ – live performance at the Fábrica de Arte, 13th Bienal de la Habana, 2019
Mia Salsjö, ‘Modes of Translation’ – live performance at the Fábrica de Arte, 13th Bienal de la Habana, 2019
Opening launch, Casa de Asia, 2019 – and the team at work
Opening launch, Casa de Asia, 2019 – and the team at work
La construcción de lo posible – 13th Bienal de la Habana, 12 April – 12 May 2019
La construcción de lo posible – 13th Bienal de la Habana, 12 April – 12 May 2019

Intercambio 2015 – 2019

  • 2015 Michelangelo Pistoletto: The Third Paradise Conference Bertolt Brecht Theatre, Havana Delegate
  • 2016 ‘Barefoot Curating: Intercambio’ New Utopias: Art, Memory, Context – AICA World Congress, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana Paper
  • 2016 Intercambio: A Conversation Between Two Trains – La Bienal de la Habana RMIT University · Smith D (ed.), Alvarez L (trans.) Editor
  • – Intercambio: Cuba Australia Video Exchange Blindside, Melbourne – Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, Adriana Arronte Rodríguez, Diana Fonseca Quiñones, Mia Salsjö, Robyne Latham, Angela Tiatia, Naivy Peréz Curator
  • 2019 Australian Pavilion, 13th Bienal de la Habana Casa de Asia, Old Havana – The Construction of the Possible Curator
Intercambio: Cuba Australia Video Exchange, Blindside, Melbourne
Intercambio: Cuba Australia Video Exchange, Blindside, Melbourne
Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, Contacto (Cajón en homenaje a Ana Mendieta), 2015, and Competition of natural afro hair – ‘We bring it curly’, 2015
Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo, Contacto (Cajón en homenaje a Ana Mendieta), 2015, and Competition of natural afro hair – ‘We bring it curly’, 2015
Adriana Arronte Rodríguez, Transfusion, 2008; Angela Tiatia, Untitled, 2018
Adriana Arronte Rodríguez, Transfusion, 2008; Angela Tiatia, Untitled, 2018

Groundwork Before Havana

2011

Mexico

Connexion / Confianza – Connection / Trust, Centro de las Artes, San Luis Potosí, and Karen Casey: Woven Histories – the gift of light, Centro de las Artes, San Agustín Etla, Oaxaca. Funded by RMIT University and the Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART), Mexico.

2015 – 2019

Cuba

Four years at the Wifredo Lam Centre of Contemporary Art, building the relationships that made an Australian pavilion possible.