Ten editions of the La Joven Estampa Prize were the pretext of choice for a long-range exhibit that has been dominating the halls of the Casa de las Americas since Oct. 19. The artworks belong to both prize-winning artists and other creators who have taken part in previous editions as jurors.
The call for the prize –since its foundation back in 1987- is aimed at keeping Latin American graphic arts alive and kicking with the support of a younger breed of creators –below 35 years of age. The event came into being as a platform full of traditions and continued support to artists at that time.
The exhibit’s curator, Nahela Hechavarria, worked on a sort of wrap-up of the event’s highlights over the past ten editions in an effort to pay tribute to those artists who played a role in the foundational concept. In this sense, the exposition proposes a multitude of dialogues between the great masters and the emerging artists who have historically viewed this gathering as a way to both legitimize and position their works. In the same breath, this effort establishes lines of continuity and rupture in the Latin American and Caribbean graphic art movement.
The latest edition of La Joven Estampa took place in 2009 within the framework of the Casa de las Americas Kinetic Year. The Organizing Committee decided to put off the 11th edition for 2013 –it had been initially slated for May 2011- in a bid to reformulate the contest, as well as energize and update its conceptualization as a way to respond to building demands and needs of the graphic arts in this ongoing century.
Casa de las Americas
3ra. y G, El Vedado, Havana, Cuba
Source: http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/
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