Grupo Antillano

Grupo Antillano was a Cuban artistic group formed in Havana by 16 artists during the period identified as 1975–1985. Its membership was deliberately multidisciplinary: artists worked in painting, sculpture, engraving, drawing, ceramics, graphic design, environmental design, textile design, gold and silver work, cartoons, and performance. Rafael Queneditt Morales served as director and was identified with sculpture and engraving. The group’s documented activity placed visual art in conversation with Cuban cultural institutions and Caribbean-oriented events. In 1978, it mounted an Expo-Venta at Havana’s Centro de Arte Internacional and appeared in programs associated with the National Folkloric Ensemble, the International Ballet Festival, and Cuba’s national dance season. In 1979, it took part in an exhibition honoring ethnologist and cultural historian Fernando Ortiz at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. That event also included a number of guest artists, including Wifredo Lam, René Portocarrero, Manuel Mendive, Anselmo Febles Bermúdez, Roberto Diago, and Armando Posse. Grupo Antillano subsequently participated in international and regional cultural exchanges. In 1980, its work was shown in Prague under the title Antilska Skupina/Grupo Antillano and at the Gallery of the Cultural Committee in Sofia. In 1981, it participated in Carifesta ’81 in Bridgetown, Barbados, and in América negra at the Instituto del Tercer Mundo in Mexico City. The group also appeared at the second Festival of Caribbean-Origin Culture in Santiago de Cuba in 1982. These presentations associated the collective with Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, and broader Antillean cultural themes. The available record does not provide a precise founding date, dissolution date, formal legal structure, commercial owner, or current leadership. It also does not establish a conventional product catalogue. Grupo Antillano is therefore best understood as an artistic collective rather than a consumer brand. Its legacy continued to be represented through institutional holdings and later exhibitions. Works by members are held in the permanent collection of Casa del Caribe in Santiago de Cuba. In 2013, Drapetomania, a tribute exhibition dedicated to Grupo Antillano, was shown at Galería Arte Universal in Santiago de Cuba and at the Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales in Havana.

• 2013

  Drapetomania tribute exhibitions

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  Drapetomania, an exhibition honoring Grupo Antillano, was held at Galería Arte Universal in Santiago de Cuba and the Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales in Havana.

• 1982

  Festival of Caribbean-Origin Culture

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  The collective participated in the second Festival of Caribbean-Origin Culture in Santiago de Cuba.

• 1981

  Participation in Carifesta ’81

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  The group exhibited at Carifesta ’81 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

• 1981

  América negra exhibition

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  Grupo Antillano participated in América negra at the Instituto del Tercer Mundo in Mexico City.

• 1980

  International exhibitions in Prague and Sofia

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  Grupo Antillano exhibited in Prague, where it was presented as Antilska Skupina/Grupo Antillano, and in Sofia at the Gallery of the Cultural Committee.

• 1979

  Fernando Ortiz tribute exhibition

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  The collective participated in a tribute exhibition for Fernando Ortiz at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí in Havana.

• 1978

  Havana Expo-Venta

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  Grupo Antillano held an Expo-Venta at the Centro de Arte Internacional in Havana.

• 1978

  Participation in Havana cultural programs

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  The group appeared in programs connected with the National Folkloric Ensemble, the International Ballet Festival, and Cuba’s national dance season.

• 1975

  Formation period begins

  [1]Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org

  The collective is described as having been formed by 16 Cuban artists during the 1975–1985 period.

A Cuban multidisciplinary art collective focused on visual, material, performative, and design practices connected with Cuban and Caribbean cultural expression.

• Art collective output

  Multidisciplinary visual-art works

  The collective’s output covered painting, sculpture, engraving, drawing, ceramics, graphic and environmental design, textile design, gold and silver work, cartoons, and performance. The available reference material does not identify standardized product lines or named flagship works.

1. 1Grupo Antillanoen.wikipedia.org