Guest Lecturer: Alexis Esquivel

Alexis Esquivel is a Cuban visual and performance artist whose work has often explored themes of history, race and identity, particularly in a Cuban cultural context.

This lecture offers a reflection on the issue of race in Cuba and its historical development, drawing from an analysis of some of the most important artists to address these themes since the turn of the century. Esquivel will guide a virtual trip through a series of exhibitions mounted in Cuba and abroad in the last 18 years, examining the complexities of the debate over race in Cuba.

Through the voices of the artists, this talk will explore the social reality of Afro-Cubans in an island context. From the curated expositions "Queloides I Parte"  (1997), "Ni músicos ni deportistas" (1997), "Queloides" (1999), "Queloides," "Raza y racismo en el Arte cubano contemporáneo"  (2010, 2011, 2012), to "Without Masks: Contemporary Afro-Cuban Art" (2010, 2014) and "Drapetomanía, Homenaje al Grupo Antillano" (2013, 2014, 2015), Esquivel will seek to understand, compare and explain the features of different spaces in Afro-transatlantic history. He will also analyze the symbolic impact of the Obama era and the construction of the story realized in the African Diaspora, as well as the effect of reestablishing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

For more information, visit: http://willson.uga.edu/event/global-georgia-initiative-a-conversation-with-alexis-esquivel/?instance_id=1236