After the Cuban Revolution in 1959 that transformed Cuba first into a socialist and ultimately into a communist state, Cuban artists became isolated from foreign influences. Some artists left the country to pursue an artistic career elsewhere, while some others stayed in Cuba to produce art that was sponsored by the government.

The Prince Claus Fund supported Parabola, a project that started in 2003 and focuses on Cuban contemporary art. Parabola aims to capture and to deliver a catalogue of images of cosmopolitan Cuban art and make it available to the public and the interested critics.

Due to the censorship on cultural promotion and the limited access to internet, this project plays a vital role in the communication about (young) independent Cuban artists through a database, CDs and DVDs. By keeping the database alive and up to date, this initiative is important for the maintenance of an independent art scene in Cuba. The database is also accessible outside Cuba and therefore is a very essential medium to identify and show talents that would otherwise remain unknown to the outside world and vice versa.

For those who are interested in Cuban art, in the Prince Claus Fund Documentation Centre you can access the entire database, in which a great number of Cuban Contemporary artists are included. Here you can find their bibliographies and examples of their artwork.

Visit the Documentation Centre

The Prince Claus Fund office

Herengracht 603, Amsterdam

Open for visitors from 10.00 until 17.00