Nine renowned African American abstract painters opened an exhibition at the Havana based National Fine Arts Museum on August 1st.

Titled African American Artists and Abstraction, it includes small format pieces by Nanette Carter, Willie Cole, Jayne Cortez, Victor Davson, Melvin Edwards, Hill Hutson, Ben Jones, Senga Nerngudi and Howardena Pindell. Curator and artist, Ben Jones, who traveled to island for the first time in 1967 and has come to Cuba 68 times, said that the exhibition pays tribute to late poetess and revolutionary activist, Jayne Cortez, who inspired the world to think and struggle for social justice.

A group of 85 US museum directors, curators, intellectuals and artists, who were on hand at the opening, are scheduled to hold panels, visit Cuban cultural institutions and exchange views and ideas with Cuban colleagues. The exhibition will also travel to different museums in the United States, Europe and Africa. In related news, Havana’s Fine Art Biennial, scheduled for next year, will include an exhibit of the Bronx Museum for the first time on the island.
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