AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

From Coco on the Franklin Furnace Goings-On Listserv:

Below is the text of a petition I just submitted to:

http://www.petitiononline.com/SANDRA/petition.html

If you are interested in supporting this please go to the URL and enter in your signature.

El Espacio Aglutinador is the longest running independent art space in Cuba. Founded in 1994 by artist Sandra Ceballos in her own living room, the gallery has been recognized internationally as a critical venue for cutting edge Cuban culture. In recent years, El Espacio Aglutinador received support from The Prince Claus Fund and was name one of the 100 most important galleries in the world by Art in America.

Numerous landmark exhibitions, publications, performances and public cultural events featuring national and international artists have taken place there in its 14 year history. In addition, Ceballos has suceeded in re-writing the recent history of Cuban art by organizing exhibitions of works by artists who had been ignored or blacklisted by official cultural institutions on the island.

Sadly, Cuban officials from el Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plasticas issued an inflammatory and erroneous public statement last week alleging that George W. Bush would attend an opening at El Espacio Aglutinador on October 18th, together with two prominent Cuban dissidents involved with human rights efforts in Cuba. The tone of the message and its lack of basis in fact are alarming to supporters of Cuban culture. The association of Ceballos with "enemies of the Cuban state" suggests that the message is an attempt to identify Ceballos as a dangerous counter-revolutionary. These kinds of accusations are often preludes to harsher measures against Cuban intellectuals and artists.

Ceballos was compelled to suspend the exhibition that was slated to open on October 18th.

We deeply regret that such measures have been taken against Ceballos and her gallery as they not only endanger the artist but also engender a climate of fear and hostility that cannot and will never contribute to the vitality, diversity and quality of Cuban culture. We sincerely hope that el Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plasticas will retract its accusations and allow Ceballos to proceed with her exhibitions immediately.

Sincerely,

The UNDERSIGNED