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Galleria CONTINUA 10th anniversary in Cuba : Interview Niurma Pérez, director

1 juin 2025

Galleria CONTINUA La Habana gallery view courtesy Galleria CONTINUA © Lorenzo Fiaschi

Ten years ago, GALLERIA CONTINUA became the first international contemporary art gallery to establish a permanent presence in Cuba. A decade later, it is celebrating this pioneering adventure with The Ability to Dream (La Capacidad de Soñar), a large group exhibition featuring 40 Cuban artists, living in the island or abroad. To mark this anniversary, a rich program of performances, events, and artistic encounters will take place throughout the month of May, highlighting the vibrancy and diversity of the contemporary Cuban art scene.

Niurma Pérez, director of Galleria CONTINUA Havana, reflects on the key milestones of this extraordinary journey and the events planned around the anniversary exhibition and this month of intense cultural celebration.

Galleria Continua was a pioneer in Cuba ten years ago – how would you assess this journey today ?

The journey of Galleria Continua in Cuba throughout these ten years could be described as a beautiful adventure of passion for art. The gallery opened its venue in the heart of Chinatown, in Centro Habana, occupying the former Águila de Oro movie theater space, which at the time required some slight renovations while preserving the essence and originality of the place. From the very beginning, the gallery was welcomed in the local art scene with great enthusiasm and curiosity, as it was the first international gallery -and still the only one- to open a location in Cuba. The first action that took place in the space was the work “Perimeter” by Daniel Buren, while the first exhibition with which the gallery officially opened was “Anchored in the Territory”, with Cuban artists Alejandro Campins, Elizabet Cerviño, Susana Pilar, Carlos Garaicoa, Reynier Leyva Novo and Jose Yaque. The work of Cuban artists in general caught the attention of the founders, so several exhibitions either with Cuban artists in particular, or in dialogue with foreign artists, took place almost annually during these ten years, both in Havana and in other venues and institutions outside Cuba. The program of solo ad group exhibitions included from the beginning international artists such as Daniel Buren, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Anish Kapoor, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Chen Zhen, Hans Op de Beeck, Zhanna Kadyrova, Jorge Macchi, JR, Julio Le Parc, among others. On occasions, the program was also extended to other spaces and areas of the city, such as “Promenada a la Havane,” Daniel Buren’s in situ intervention on several doors in Centro Habana and Old Havana; or the interventions on various walls of the city by JR.

At the same time, since its opening, the gallery has developed a wide-ranging program of community work in alliance with the Rebirth – Third Paradise Embassy (a project by the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and led in Cuba by Laura Salas Redondo) which has earned it great prestige in the Chinatown community and among all those who have participated in these events. Talks with artists, workshops for children, music concerts for youth and adults have been part of the regular programming of the gallery. Even during the difficult years of COVID, the gallery was able to remain active and close to the community.

It has been 10 years of diverse challenges, of growth, of mutual gains, both for the gallery, the artists and the Cuban art scene in general.

« 10 AÑOS EN CUBA » La capacidad de soñar – The ability to dream, exhibition view, 2025, GALLERIA CONTINUA / Habana. Photo: Linet Sánchez

The anniversary exhibition The Ability to Dream brings together 40 Cuban artists. How was the concept for the show developed ?

When thinking about what exhibition should celebrate the 10th anniversary of Galleria Continua in Cuba, we decided to invite the 40 Cuban artists with whom we had worked at some point during the decade. We wanted it to be an exhibition that could show a diversity of themes, languages, media and forms of expression; that would include works by both great masters and younger artists; and that would somehow establish a dialogue with these times.

The title was taken from the documentary of the same name by Sky Arte & Tiwi Studio that narrates the story of the creation and history of Galleria Continua. It is a very poetic title that has generated several exhibitions in other venues of the gallery, and that on this occasion was perfectly suited to the moment to pause in this ten-year journey and reflect on the transformative capacity of art.

As it involved 40 artists, the exhibition transcended the limits of the gallery and occupied eight other spaces scattered around the city of Havana, including a couple of works in public spaces. This of course implied that micro dialogues were generated in each of these exhibition spaces, while the proposed tour or itinerary could articulate diverse readings in the public.

In what ways does Galleria Continua support the visibility and recognition of Cuban artists, both locally and internationally ?

When Galleria Continua arrived in Cuba, it only had one Cuban artist on its list of represented artists: Carlos Garaicoa. In a very short time, due to the high level that the founders Lorenzo, Maurizio and Mario found in Cuban art, the gallery began to represent ten artists. In addition to the above, Alejandro Campins, Yoan Capote, Ivan Capote, Elizabet Cerviño, Osvaldo Gonzalez, Susana Pilar, Luis Lopez Chavez, Jose Mesias and Jose Yaque, who have had a wide presence in solo and group exhibitions in the different venues of the gallery and in cultural institutions in different countries such as Italy, France, Holland, Germany, Spain, United States, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, India, Dubai, among others.

Another important fact in the promotion and visibility of Cuban artists was the support to the book Cuba Talks, published by Editorial Rizzoli in 2019 by authors Jérôme Sanz and Laura Salas, which contains extensive interviews to 28 Cuban artists.

In 2024, the headquarters of Galleria Continua Les Moulins, Paris, hosted a large group exhibition of 25 Cuban artists, which I curated together with Laura Salas Redondo and which achieved great visibility in France.

What are the defining features of the Cuban art scene today ?

The Cuban art scene has undergone visible changes in recent years, marked by the exodus of many artists, mainly to Spain and the United States. In fact, the artists in the recently inaugurated exhibition “The Ability to Dream” are currently living in Cuba, Spain, the United States, Mexico and Holland. It was comforting to gather their works for this celebration and to meet again more than half of the artists in Havana on the opening day. At the same time, other independent spaces and projects that currently exist in Havana nurture the local art scene.

How do you collaborate with your colleagues across the gallery’s global locations ?

The gallery has a very effective internal communication system that shortens distances, and the whole team is aware of what is happening in the rest of the gallery’s other locations. Cuban artists in particular have been part of solo and group exhibitions in all Galleria Continua’s venues, so I have had the opportunity to collaborate with my colleagues directly on a regular basis.

VERSION FRANÇAISE (lien)

Practical Infos :

The Ability to Dream

Galleria Continua / Habana

Rayo 108 / Zanja y Dragones, Chinatown, Centro Habana,

La Habana, Cuba

Galleria CONTINUA other locations and shows :

https://www.galleriacontinua.com/exhibitions-list-pictures/current

At Paris, Marais/Matignon :

https://www.galleriacontinua.com/exhibitions/strategic-locations-

Les Moulins (Grand Paris) :

Pascale Marthine-Tayou