Exercises to be Happy: Ephemeral Practices in 1980s Cuba

Exercises to be Happy: Ephemeral Practices in 1980s Cuba brings together a selection of images, videos, and facsimiles that document the nascent performance and ephemeral art movement in Havana of the 1980s. Titled after Lorna Burdsall’s “Felicicios,” or exercises to be happy, the exhibition reveals a variety of artistic strategies and methods—from conceptual and formal artistic explorations to more confrontational performance practices which involved actions such as interrupting panel discussions and artists’ presentations, trampling on political icons, turning exhibitions into decadent parties, and generally adhering to nihilistic attitudes.

Co-curated by Glexis Novoa and [NAME] Publications, the exhibition is part of a three-year research project that will culminate in an authoritative volume on the period and its practices. In addition, some of the material in this exhibition will form part of [NAME]’s Migrant Archive—a physical and online repository of cultural documents, supported by the Knight Foundation. Migrant Archives is drawn from artists who are part of the displaced communities that now call South Florida home.

Artists: Lorna Burdsall & ASÍ SOMOS, Williams Carmona, Equipo Hexágono  (Consuelo Castañeda, Humberto Castro, Sebastián Elizondo, Antonio Eligio Fernández “TONEL”, Abigail García, and María Elena Morera), Ex-members of ARTE CALLE (Max Delgado, Offil Echevarría, Ernesto Leal and Ariel Serrano), Manuel Mendive, Glexis Novoa, Carlos Rodríguez Cárdenas, Ariel Serrano.

About [NAME]
Founded in 2008, [NAME] Publications is dedicated to making books with an emphasis on histories and practices often marginalized in dominant art and design histories. The press facilitates the production of books by artists, designers, curators, and scholars with practices anchored in the Americas. It disseminates these titles and builds new audiences for them through exhibitions and public programs. In consonance with this mission, [NAME]’s exhibition projects revolve around books, the salvaging of archival materials, and the activation of printed matter as a material support.