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Cuba Today
ICC at the ROM offers free Cuban-themed events this fall
This fall, the Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presents Cuba Today, a series of free programming celebrating Cuban culture. Centred on the recently opened exhibition by Cuban contemporary artist Carlos Garaicoa, the public can enjoy lectures, readings and a week long Cuban Film Festival. All events are free and begin at 7 pm in the ROM’s Signy and Cléophée Eaton Theatre, Level 1B, unless otherwise noted. Museum admission is not included.
On Thursday, October 12, 2006, Descant Magazine launches its fall issue with a panel discussion entitled Descant: Cuba, Inside/Out. Participants include poets Israel Domínguez and Laura Ruiz Montes from Matanzas, Cuba, Keith Ellis, honorary member of the Union of Artist and Writers of Cuba, Toronto literary critic and documentary filmmaker Ian J. Macrae, Newfoundland writer Marjorie M. Doyle and crime-fiction writer and Cuban exile José Latour. Limited edition handcrafted books from Matanzas' publishing house, Ediciones Vigía, will be on display.
From Sunday, October 15 to Friday, October 20, 2006, the public can enjoy Cuban Cinema: The Many Layers of Reality in Cuba, six Cuban films ranging from an animated film on vampires in Havana to two Toronto premieres. All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. The schedule is:
Sunday, Oct. 15: Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Monday, Oct. 16: Strawberry and Chocolate (1994), directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio
Tuesday, Oct. 17: Guantanamera (1995), directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio
Wednesday, Oct. 18: Vampires in Havana (1985), directed by Juan Padron
Thursday, Oct. 19: Toronto premiere of Suite Habana (2003), directed by Fernanado Pérez
Friday, Oct. 20: Toronto premiere of Three Times Two (2004), directed by Esteban García Insausti, Pavel Giroud and Lesler Hamlet
On Friday, November 10, 2006, John Kirk of Dalhousie University moderates a panel discussion entitled Myth & Reality in Cuba – The Revolution at 47. The evening will explore the impact of U.S.-Cuban relations on life in Cuba, social conditions in contemporary Cuba, the challenges of providing balanced reporting on Cuba, as well as the evolution of cultural expression in Cuba. Panelists include Wayne S. Smith (Center for International Policy), Hal Klepak (Royal Military College and special adviser to the Departments of National Defence and Foreign Affairs), Jeffrey Koffman (ABC News correspondent on Latin American matters) and Mirén Uriarte (University of Massachussetts, Boston).
On Thursday, November 23, 2006, the ICC presents José Latour: Reading and Reminiscences. José Latour, one of the top Spanish language crime-fiction writers, will read from his works and talk about his life in Canada after he and his family fled Cuba in 2002. The reading takes place in the ROM's RBC Glass Room. On Friday, December 1, 2006, Harvard Adjunct Professor of Urban Design Lee Cott explores Cuba’s Colonial, Déco and 1950s’ Modern architecture during The Astounding Architecture and Urban Design of Havana, Then and Now: History, Heritage and Challenges. The lecture is generously sponsored by Sherritt International Corporation.
For more programming details, please contact the ICC at 416.586.5524 or icc@rom.on.ca or visit www.rom.on.ca/about/icc/events.
Until December 31, 2006, visitors can experience the contemporary artworks by one of Cuba’s most important contemporary artists Carlos Garaicoa. Making its sole Canadian stop at the ROM, the exhibition Carlos Garaicoa explores issues of architecture, urban decay and utopianism in the artist’s native Havana, forcefully expressed through drawings, photographs, sculptures, films and architectural models. The exhibition is presented by Sentry Select Capital Corp. and organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
About the Institute for Contemporary Culture
The ROM’s Institute for Contemporary Culture plays a vital role in a museum whose collections embrace many civilizations, as well as the record of nature through countless ages. In the context of the ROM’s lively documentation of history, the ICC explores current cultural issues through the exhibitions of art and architecture, lectures, film series, and informal gatherings. The ICC is the ROM’s window on contemporary society.
Issue date:
September 28, 2006
For more information:
Media Relations
Tel.: 416.586.5547
Fax: 416.586.8022
E-mail: media@rom.on.ca
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