7 News Belize

Community and Collaboration: Cuba + Belize
posted (June 26, 2019)

In January we told you about the group of Belizean artists, teachers and activists who travelled to Cuba. They were on a mission to foster a renewed spirit of solidarity and friendship with the island nation, through the exploration of culture, art, education, and community activism.

Among those Belizeans on the trip was the graphic artist Alex Quiroz, who is better known as "Lito". He got a chance to meet his Cuban kindred spirit, Alex "Falco" Chan, who specializes in contemporary graphic art, meant to provoke thought on controversial  social and political topics.

That meeting in Cuba sparked the beginning of a collaboration between the 2 which spanned several months. They have put together an exhibition being called Ka'añaar to introduce to Belizeans to the power of art that delivers clear messages, using graphic designs that cut down on the clutter of traditional artistic styles. 

The exhibit was debuted today at the Image Factory Art Foundation, and 7News stopped by to talk with the Image Factory's Director, and the artists about the importance of this very first collaboration. Here's what they told us:

Yasser Musa - Director, Image Factory Art Foundation
"I think the best way to begin is with the name of the exhibition. Ka is a Yucatec Maya word that means 2. Ñaar is an African Wolof word that means 2. And the exhibit involves 2 artists: Falco from Cuba and Lito from Belize. And our 2 brothers have collaborate on a graphic art exhibition as you've seen inside. This has been long in the planning, and this a great moment, not just for the Image Factory and Belize, but for our collaboration and solidarity with our sisters and brothers of Cuba."

Alex "Falco" Chan - Cuban Graphic Artist
"It's very important for me as a Cuban Artist to be involved in this this kind of project with a Belizean artist, not only to show culture and art as a tool of approach in Between 2 nations, but also to fight these present and current times that small countries like Belize and Cuba, to try to fight different threats that we are facing nowadays."

Carlos "Lito" Quiroz - Belizean Graphic Artist
"One of the reasons why Yasser thought it was a good idea to bring Falco and I is because I expressed to Yasser that I like Falco's style of very straight to the point, instant graphics, very minimalist, but heavy concept style, and very bright bold colors, and he thought that if I'm interested, and I like his style, it would be a good idea to bring us together. But also, our interests align in that we want to use our art, not only for aesthetic purposes but for advocating messages that are dear to us and we feel that are affecting us as a human race."

Yasser Musa
"I would say and characterize it as very thought provoking, conscious building. The artists designed works that are very simplistic, when you look at them, however, when you contemplate, reflect and think about what you're seeing, a lot of deep ideas come forward, ideas about what we're doing to the planet, ideas about how nations oppress each other, ideas about gender inequality, ideas about society, about war, about peace. So it's really a present tense art show."

Reporter
"I notice there was one where a person is spoon-feeding himself different social media content in an actual spoon."

Carlos "Lito" Quiroz
"Yes, that one is Falco's one actually. That is not my one, but I think that it has to do with the level of dependence we have become on things like social media and the internet. We've become social media natives, and I think that's what he is referring to in that piece. We've become so dependent, it's become pretty much our way of life, and how we consume, how we decided how to consume things all depends on that one little device that we have in our hands."

The Ka'añaar exhibit will also open this week at the UEF African and Ingenious Library on the Kremandala Compound, and then at the House of Cultures in Orange Walk and Corozal, as well as the Gulisi Garifuna Museum in Dangriga, the House of Culture in San Ignacio, and the Benque Viejo Del Carmen House of Culture.

The exhibit will run for 2 weeks.

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