Cuba Premieres: Unfinished Spaces
FREE, no registration required
Join us for a special screening of Unfinished Spaces, the first film in our Cuba Premieres Series, followed by a Q&A with director Alysa Nahmias. Entry to Back to Havana prior to the screening is free and educational activities for children ages 4-13 will be held throughout the event – see below for details.
In 1961, three young, visionary architects were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba’s National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana, Cuba. Construction of their radical designs began immediately and the school’s first classes soon followed. Dancers, musicians and artists from all over the country reveled in the beauty of the schools, but as the dream of the Revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate. Forty years later the schools are in use, but remain unfinished and decaying. Castro has invited the exiled architects back to finish their unrealized dream. Watch the trailer or learn more.
Directed by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray, 2011 / HD / Color / 16:9 (1.78:1) / 86 min / Stereo.
FOR KIDS
House and Home – Explore color-mixing, shapes, and patterns with pastels, colored transparencies, and a light box, taking as inspiration Back to Havana artist William Perez’s colorfully-illuminated Hay Siempre un Lugar (There is Always a Place) series.
AGES: 4-7 | FREE
Man, Architecture, and Environment – Compare and contrast the works of Back to Havana artists Maria Cienfuegos – El Arbol Que No Me Pudieron Nombrar (The Tree That I Could Not Name) – and William Perez – Hay Siempre un Lugar (There is Always a Place) – to explore the relationship between man, architecture, and environment. This mixed media activity will utilize retired architectural blueprints, colored transparencies, dried flora, and traditional drawing materials.
AGES: 8-13 | FREE
Generous funding for Cuba Premieres is provided by Wind Creek Hospitality, The City of Mobile, Mobile County Commission, Alabama State Council on the Arts, The Hearin-Chandler Foundation, The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, The Crampton Trust, The Sybil H. Smith Charitable Trust, Visit Mobile, The Support The Arts License Tag, and The Community Foundation of South Alabama.
Back to Havana features a number of works graciously loaned by the collection of Terri and Steven Certilman – Discoveries in Art. We are also grateful for the support of our media partners Alabama Media Group, Alabama Public Radio, and Alabama Coasting.