Norwegian Gallery Owners Praise Cuban Contemporary Art

Elin, also manager of the institution, told ACN that as a collector she thinks the most current Cuban art is different than that in other countries.

She stressed that, personally, one of the aspects she appreciated the most is the intense color and contrast present in the works of the artists she could see.

Sjur, Gallerie SE director, stated that what he saw in his short stay in Havana has a very good artistic level and recalled that a decade ago a sample of 10 Cuban contemporary artists was exhibited in Oslo, which included works by Mario Garcia Portela, Roberto Fabelo, Manuel López Oliva and Flavio Garciandía, who are now well known in that Nordic nation.

During their stay in Havana, both visitors exchanged with executives from Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center, sponsor of the Havana Biennial, San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts and Galiano Gallery, specializing in the promotion of the most current art works.

They also visited the workshops of various artists and exchanged with prominent curators and specialists of Cuban visual universe.

The two men expressed their willingness to return with more time, on May 2015, to participate in the Havana meeting of world art, which celebrates its 30th anniversary and the intention of creating exchange links between centers of artistic teaching of the two countries.

Gallerie SE was founded in 1995 and is the largest one dedicated to international art in the city of Bergen; it plays an important role in Norwegian art scene and treasures or handles a lot of works by renowned artists such as American Ed Moses and Richard Pasquarelli or Chinese Yue Minjun.