Presentation by PD Dr. Andrea Gremels, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder):

"Wifredo Lam’s Transcultural Surrealism"

Moderation: Prof Dr. Susanne Klengel (ZI Lateinamerika-Institut)

On the occasion of the exhibition „Surrealismus in Lateinamerika. Zeitschriften und Künstlerbücher“ at the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut Preußischer Kulturbesitz, in collaboration with ZI Lateinamerika-Institut and the Förderkreis des Ibero-Amerikanischen Instituts e.V.

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Transculturality is at the heart of the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam’s surrealism. It can be traced back to African, European, and Chinese descent as well as to his transatlantic biography and exchange within the surrealist network activities between Madrid, Paris, and Havana in the first half of the 20^th century. 

The lecture examines the transcultural surrealism of the paintings he created in the 1940s – after his return to Cuba during World War II – exploring the symbolic worlds of Afro-Caribbean religious practices such as Haitian Voodoo and Cuban Santería. 

In particular, I consider how Lam’s transcultural art engages with the colonial history of enslavement in the Caribbean and how the surrealist technique of confronting this historical trauma is discussed by his contemporaries across the Caribbean. In this context, I approach Fernando Ortiz’s essay on Wifredo Lam’s work, written on the occasion of Lam’s first solo exhibition in Havana in 1950. 

At the intersection of art criticism and ethnography Ortiz’s analysis is of particular significance not only because he has coined the term “transculturación” for the formation of the Cuban nation, but also because he is considered a pioneer in the ethnographic study of Afro-Cuban religions. The rare edition of Cuadernos de arte, in which Ortiz’s essay was published, is part of the exhibition Surrealismus in Lateinamerika. Zeitschriften und Künstlerbücher at the Ibero-American Institute.