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TURN in HAVANA 2024 Report

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TURN was invited to the Havana Biennial, Cuba’s international contemporary art exhibition celebrating its 40th anniversary. Artists Chloe Paré and Motoki Watanabe were selected through an open call. In Havana they encountered different cultural spheres and systems, and their planned activities were interrupted due to hurricane damage. Given the limited opportunities to conduct workshops, they held an exhibition while searching for alternatives. The opening brought together participants and staff members from the local partner organizations and created opportunities for new encounters.

【15th Havana Biennial】

Location: Havana, Cuba
Dates: November 15 (Fri), 2024 – February 28 (Fri), 2025
Venues: about 80 locations

【TURN in HAVANA 2024】

Chloe Paré at La Asociación Cubana de Personas en Situación de Discapacidad Intelectual (ACPDI)
Motoki Watanabe at Casa de las Américas
Dates: October 28 (Mon) – November 12 (Tue), 2024

Exhibition Venue: Villena Room/UNEAC
(the venue was moved to the above partner institutions during the later part of the exhibition)
Exhibition dates: November 14 (Thur), 2024 – February 28 (Fri), 2025

【PLAN/ART WORKS】

Chloe Paré　
ART WORKS：geometría polisentimental
This project/artwork was envisioned as the creation of a map of Havana through interaction with theCuban Association of People with Intellectual Disabilities, involving traditional Japanese“papermaking.” Each workshop participant incorporated the city of Havana and everyday life into the making of washi, creating a “multi-perspective/sensory map” that wove together personal stories and collective memories. The participants made washi paper together, but since only one part of the planned workshop was realized, the map was not completed collectively. Instead instructions/methodology were shared with the Association, so that they could complete the map by themselves.

Motoki Watanabe　
ART WORKS：HARIKO no GU
The project incorporates elements of traditional Japanese “papier-mâché,” “masks,” and “tsugi-jishi,” a performing art from his hometown of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, to interact with children gathered at the Roberto Fernández Retamar Library. The project aims to create masks with workshop participants, and to create sounds, behaviors, and stories that will be heard through the masks. The plan was to go out into the town with the masks and develop a performance. In fact, with less interaction and
workshops than planned, participants spent time making the masks and sharing drawings of what they were doing during the power outage caused by the hurricane, and then developed an impromptu performance at the opening of the exhibition.

Chloé Paré joining a dance activity at ACPDI, a support facility for people with intellectual disabilities, with staff and participants standing side by side.
At the Roberto Fernández Retamar Library, Japanese masks such as Hyottoko, Otafuku, Momotaro, and a monkey mask are laid out on a white sheet on the floor. Children sit around the sheet while Motoki Watanabe kneels and holds a Hannya mask, explaining Japanese masks to them.
Mask-making activity where an adult lies on their back while Motoki Watanabe and two children shape a mold of the person’s face. One child wears a white school polo shirt with a red scarf tied at the front.
Mask-making activity where a child and three staff members shape a mold of a person’s face. The person lies on their back while washi paper is applied over the face, leaving the nose and mouth uncovered.
Chloé Paré interacting with ACPDI staff and participants, standing in a circle with around 10 people and playing a movement-based game.
Chloé Paré making washi paper with ACPDI participants, explaining the process to people seated around an outdoor table.
Four participants enjoy loosening kozo fiber in a bowl as part of washi paper-making, while staff and family members watch nearby with smiles.
Different people’s hands working together to loosen kozo fiber in a bowl as part of washi paper-making.
Tools for washi paper-making on a table, including a papermaking frame and plastic boxes containing neri and kozo fiber.
Motoki Watanabe drawing with others around a sheet with crayons and paper scattered across it, based on a blackout theme.
Children painting handmade masks on a sheet, with staff watching nearby and colorful paints and materials spread out around them.
Washi paper-making process where a participant uses a stick to mix plants collected from ACPDI’s garden with neri in a plastic box (about 30 × 50 cm). Plant pieces are scattered around the work area.
Two sheets of washi paper drying, made with mixed-in plant materials such as colorful fallen leaves and flower petals.
Exhibition entrance with a large banner hanging overhead, featuring the TURN logo.
Three long rope-like strands made from twisted washi paper hang from the ceiling, with handmade washi sheets displayed on the wall.
Six handmade masks on display, painted in bright colors such as red and green.
Exhibition opening remarks, with artists and curators addressing the audience.
A washi paper workshop themed around maps at the exhibition venue, where people attach long strips of washi to a rope stretched near the ceiling, tying them on or looping shorter pieces over the rope.
Three children looking at artworks displayed on the wall, created through Chloé Paré’s exchange with ACPDI.
Participants dancing hand in hand in a circle in the exhibition courtyard, with musicians playing Korean instruments in the foreground.
A performance using handmade masks and a blue cloth as an original shishi-mai lion dance costume, moving around and over children sitting on the grass.
Entrance of the Wifredo Lam Center at the Havana Biennale.
Display of a banner at the Wifredo Lam Center introducing past TURN programs.
Traditional performance at the Havana Biennale opening in a building courtyard, with a singer at the center and a large audience filling the stairs and both levels of the two-story building.