Tania Bruguera

Tania Bruguera is one of the most internationally acclaimed cuban artists and a key figure in the scenes of performance and art and activism which she calls “artivism”. Her work is linked with various political issues concerning power, control, freedom of speech and the History of Cuba. Due to her opposition to the Castro regime her work has often been censored and she’s been arrested on several occasions. She studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana and at the Chicago Art Institute. She’s currently teaching at the Department of Humanities of Harvard University. In 2022 she was one of the main guests of the Kassel Documenta 15 along with the Hannah Arendt Artivism Institute (INSTAR), a project founded and managed by Bruguera with the aim of promoting through art civic culture and social justice in Cuba. 

Along her career she has collaborated with institutions such as Tate Modern, MoMA, the Van Beuningen Museum and the Havana National Museum of Fine Arts. She has participated in international events such as the Kassel Documenta, and biennials held in Venice, São Paulo, Shanghai and Havana. She received the Velazquez Fine Arts award in 2021, the Arnold Bode Prize in 2021), the Meadows Prize in 2013, the Prince Claus in 2008) and the Guggenheim Grant in 1997. Among her outstanding works the performance El peso de la culpa (1997-99), the art work Destierro (1998-99), the installation Sin Título (Havana, 2000) and the performance series El Susurro de Tatlin can be mentioned. She’s also promoted the creation of pedagogical projects such as the Havana Art Conduct Chair, the Useful Art Association, the Immigrant Movement International and INSTAR.