Cátedra Arte de Conducta

Founded by Tania Bruguera

One of the con­tri­bu­tions of this pro­ject was to offset the lack of existing aca­demic cen­ters in the country. La Cátedra Arte de Conducta has a hor­i­zontal orga­ni­za­tion, mech­a­nisms or dynamic and inter­ac­tive work and mem­bers of diverse ori­gins. All these fac­tors allow stu­dents from a main­stream edu­ca­tion, with formal foun­da­tions, to be inte­grated in another type of cre­ative expe­ri­ence.
La Cátedra has a fixed number of entries and a pre­de­ter­mined training time (two years). However, its oper­a­tion is such that grad­u­ates usu­ally main­tain ongoing and fluid con­tact with it. This gen­er­ates a form of work in pro­gress, which pro­motes edu­ca­tional exchanges.
In addi­tion, one of the objec­tives of the course is to enable a direct dia­logue between national and inter­na­tional art, including through the inter­ven­tion of some of its major players such as vis­iting pro­fes­sors. To date, Cuban and for­eign artists were able to share their expe­ri­ences in work­shops designed specif­i­cally for this pro­ject. Thus, the cre­ator access to training in a more human social activity, which simul­ta­ne­ously debunks the media image of the artist.

The type of training pro­vided by the Cátedra drifts from per­ma­nent artistic expe­ri­ences that will share its ser­vices to the social, there­fore the use of new tech­nolo­gies is essen­tial for that the doc­u­men­ta­tion and pre­sen­ta­tion of the works are achieved. Currently, it has a recording studio and video editing, pho­tog­raphy and sound. Participants can work with advanced equip­ment, equiv­a­lent to those of devel­oped coun­tries. It s about a common life around the tech­nolo­gies, excluding excep­tional or priv­i­leged sit­u­a­tions.

Due to the lack of access to infor­ma­tion that exists in the country, Cátedra Arte de Conducta ini­ti­ated the cre­ation of archives spe­cial­izing in inter­na­tional con­tem­po­rary art par­tic­u­larly in its social and per­for­ma­tive aspects, by sub­scribing to art magazines and con­tem­po­rary soci­ology, buying books on cul­tural theory and art his­tory. The library and media center offer a plat­form for access to infor­ma­tion that lets stu­dents expand their hori­zons and adopt dif­ferent bench­marks views. Moreover, this action goes hand in hand with an inten­tion to recover the his­tor­ical memory of Cuban art.
The pro­ject grew slowly at the national and inter­na­tional levels. During its five years of exis­tence, the Cátedra Arte de Conducta cre­ated new actions born from neces­si­ties con­formable with the ones of a soci­o­log­ical study, aiming to increase the impact in the com­mu­nity. The works have been done with the par­tic­i­pa­tion of insti­tu­tions from marginal­ized sec­tors or poorly rep­re­sented. Similarly, exhi­bi­tions have been held fre­quently in this type of spaces.

Today, the pro­ject is expanding. It added to its edu­ca­tional work, the pro­duc­tion asso­ci­ated with the devel­op­ment of cre­ative activity of its grad­u­ates. This ges­ture cor­re­sponds to the desire to fill impor­tant gaps in con­tem­po­rary Cuban art, namely the lack of schol­ar­ships and finan­cial aid for con­ceiving artistic works.
In recent years, the National Art took a new aspect that has made the art an eli­tist activity directed to the com­mer­cial. Our desire was to develop an alter­na­tive to this trend by reha­bil­i­tating the social dis­course of art. After five years of con­tin­uous prac­tice, the works of the Cátedra Arte de Conducta rep­re­sents the most exper­i­mental art pro­duc­tion in Cuba today.

Students of Tania Bruguera
For more infor­ma­tion
Jeannette Chàvez, Núria Güell, Carlos Martiel, Francisco Masó Alfonso, Adrian Melis, Levi Orta and Alejandro Ulloa Rodriguez

Adrian Melis (diplômé de Arte de Conducta), Vigile – [projet bon, beau et bon marché], Documentation vidéo (4:30), 2005-2006 « Dans notre pays, il existe des institutions dont les ressources sont constamment victimes de détournements. Parmi ceux là, les menuiseries de l’Etat. En utilisant mes relations avec le gardien de l’une d’elle, j’ai obtenu une certaine quantité de bois provenant de cette institution et je l’ai ensuite employée pour construire un poste de surveillance dans ce même centre. » ,

Jeannette Chàvez, En changeant d’Etat, 2005. C’est sur le chapeau et les épaulettes que se trouvent les insignes qui désignent le grade du militaire. Il s’agit d’un Major et j’ai ajouté à l’étoile qui représente son titre, la queue d’une comète. A présent, il est lieutenant-colonel.,