ART COLLECTION

April 13, 2016 Yadira Leyva Ayón © Belkis Ayón Estate Belkis Ayón's work will be part of the exhibition "Memories" that will open next Thursday, April 14 at 6:00 pm in the Gallery Orígenes of the Gran Teatro de La Habana «Alicia Alonso». This exhibition brings together, in addition to Ayón's engravings, pieces by Ibrahim Miranda and Sandra Ramos, three of the most important contemporary artists of the 90s in Cuba. PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

NKAME: RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN RECORDER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Museo del Barrio, New York, United States January 25, 2018 - April 29, 2018 The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on June 13, 2017, at its second venue, Museo del Barrio, New York. A project organized by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Photographs: Darrel Couturier, Yadira Leyva Ayón, and Courtesy of the Museo del Barrio For more information, visit the Museo del Barrio website Press coverage New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/arts/design/how-an-afro-cuban-visionary-made-a-mans-world-her-own.html The Village Voice https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mqkJ4A4KdtcJ:https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/08/22/how-belkis-ayons-explorations-of-ritual-make-for- one-of-2017s-best-shows / + & cd = 1 & hl = es-419 & ct = clnk & client = firefox-b-ab Art by Excellencies http://www.arteporexcelencias.com/es/node/23237 ArtNexus https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=30811 Jacques and Natasha. GELMAN FOUNDATION https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=30811 The opinion https://laopinion.com/2017/09/06/belkis-ayon-la-maldicion-de-sikan/ Granma http://www.granma.cu/cultura/2017-09-19/la-obra-de-belkis-ayon-se-aduena-de-nueva-york-19-09-2017-21-09-55 Repeating islands https://repeatingislands.com/2017/06/13/nkame-a-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon-el-museo-del-barrio/ ARTS INITIATIVE. Columbia University in the City of New York http://artsinitiative.columbia.edu/events/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ay%C3%B3n-0 THE BROOKLYN RAIL. Critical perspectives on Arts, Politics, and Culture http://brooklynrail.org/2017/09/artseen/BELKIS-AYON-NKAME Art geek https://www.artgeek.io/exhibitions/57f441e7ae98d49e7c1332cf/5925e7d932259c176b428e71 One Arty Minute https://oneartyminute.com/agenda/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon.html Ethnic Epicure http://www.ethnicepicurenyc.com/culture-performances/2017/6/13/cuba-nkame-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=96681#.Wc5GCGe8rIV Art Stack https://theartstack.com/tags/exhibitions/Nkame:ARetrospectiveofCubanPrintmakerBelkisAy%C3%B3n/artists Your New York Magazine http://tunymag.com/nkame-retrospective-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayon-view-now-el-museo-del-barrio/ Artnet news What's the Best Work of Art you saw this Summer? 18 Well-Traveled Experts weigh in https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-best-work-of-art-i-saw-this-summer-part-one-1052006 ZEALnyc http://www.zealnyc.com/end-of-summer-museum-round-up-part-2/ The Tempest http://www.latempestad.mx/belkis-ayon-retrospectiva/ Harlem One Stop https://www.harlemonestop.com/event/25080/nkame-a-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker-belkis-ayn New Yorkio http://www.newyorkio.com/2017/08/nkame-retrospective-of-cuban-printmaker.html OnCuba Billboard June 30, 2017 http://oncubamagazine.com/sociedad/cartelera-musica-de-barrio-en-barrio/ Afro-Cuban Directory http://directoriodeafrocubanas.com/2016/03/10/belkis-ayon/

Belkis Ayón. Mythologies May 23 – November 11, 2025 Bildmuseet, Sweden Bildmuseet proudly presents Belkis Ayón / Mythologies, the first Nordic exhibition dedicated to the work of renowned Cuban artist Belkis Ayón (1967-1999). This show highlights key pieces from her career, spanning from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Ayón pioneered the technique of collography, pushing its expressive limits and expanding its formats. Her monumental works draw inspiration from the Abakuá, a secret Afro-Cuban brotherhood whose mythology and symbolism shaped her artistic production. Through her bold reinterpretations, Ayón unveils the power of myths, radically challenging their narratives and creating a unique visual universe. The exhibition is a collaborative project between Bildmuseet and The Gund (Kenyon College, Ohio, USA), with the support of Belkis Ayón Estate (Havana, Cuba) and Modern Art Oxford (UK). For more information, please visit Bildmuseet website

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN (1967-1999) Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States October 1, 2016 - February 17, 2017 Project Management: Belkis Ayón Estate and the Fowler Museum Curator: Cristina Vives The traveling exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) was inaugurated on October 1, 2016, at its first venue in the United States, the Fowler Museum at UCLA. A project developed by this prestigious institution and the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba. The exhibition is curated by Cristina Vives. Photographs: José A. Figueroa, Yadira Leyva Ayón, and Courtesy of the Fowler Museum For more information, visit the Fowler Museum website Press coverage http://southernworldartsnews.blogspot.fr/ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-belkis-ayon-20160912-snap-htmlstory.html http://artishockrevista.com/2016/11/05/primera-individual-eeuu-belkis-ayon-una-artista-prolifica-corta-vida/ https://www.artforum.com/picks/id=64969 http://www.cubanartnews.org/es/news/the-mysterious-world-of-belkis-ayon http://cubacounterpoints.com/archives/4280 http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/2016/11/belkis-ayon-art/ http://hyperallergic.com/346366/the-masterful-unsettling-work-of-a-female-cuban-printmaker/ http://artillerymag.com/fowler-museum-belkis-ayon/ http://hyperallergic.com/347988/best-of-2016-our-top-10-los-angeles-art-shows/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/belkis-ay%C3%B3n-artist_us_58682398e4b0d9a5945bb281 https://www.artslant.com/ew/articles/show/47166

SOLO EXHIBITIONS Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California, United States March 10, 1998 Desasosiego / Restlessness Read more Church of St. Barbara, Breining, Germany November 7, 1995 Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch, im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón / Hold me in pain Read more Servando Cabrera Moreno Art Gallery December, 1988 Proposal at age 20 Read more return to personal exhibitions

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYON (1967-1999) AT THE FOWLER MUSEUM AT UCLA September 30, 2016 Yadira Leyva Ayón © Belkis Ayón Estate The exhibition Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón will be inaugurated on October 1st at the UCLA Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, California. This will be the artist's first personal exhibition at an institution in the United States. The exhibition brings together 43 works and a documentary by the American filmmaker Sun Meidia. The exhibition, organized by the Fowler Museum and the Belkis Ayón Estate, is curated by Cristina Vives. It will be open to the public until February 12, 2017. PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

Escritos personales de Belkis Ayón (1967-1999) REVELATIONS Restlessness / Restlessness Belkis Ayón Manso January, 1998 When Darrel Couturier sent to request by fax the title for this exhibition he still did not have it, he had not even thought about it, to be honest. That day I had a great commitment to attend the opening of the first personal exhibition of two of my students. After finishing my work as a spectator and as a guardian angel (teacher), I went to my friend Cristina's house where I would meet Rafa who would bring the letter to Darrel with the title of the exhibition. When I left this other, nothing occurred to me - I went into a state of desperation imperceptible to the eye - again showing my moderate personality, less to laugh and do great colography ... READ MORE Confessions Belkis Ayón Manso February 11, 1991 Some time ago I studied some of the components of our culture, on the African side, the carabalíes and of them the Abakuá Secret Society, made up only of men, a mutual aid and relief society, self-financed by its members. It resurfaces in the 30s of the 19th century in Cuba under other conditions and objectives very different from those of its African ancestors. There are people who feel and have the need to believe in something, which is inherent in human existence and one of those many examples is the following ... READ MORE

HOLD ME IN PAIN Unterstütze mich, halte mich hoch, im Schmerz. Belkis Ayón / Hold me in pain Kirche St. Barbara, Breinig, Germany November, 1995 Curators: Helmo Hernández, Ludwig Foundation of Cuba Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Becker, Ludwig Forum Aachen Words to the catalog: “Among the artists who develop the theme of God in their paintings. We are passionate about Belkis Ayón for several reasons. She comes from Cuba, and the native population of Africa on this island has achieved in Santeria a special mixture of Christian icons with the orishas of the Yoruba religions. The fact that Belkis Ayón deals with these issues makes her an artist who began in the 80s when a new perspective on religions and their importance for the lives of mankind emerged throughout the world. And in the socialist state of Cuba, this occupation has a meaning: the contradiction assumed with the religious members of the Party enriches the political practice. Belkis Ayón is a draftsman, and a printmaker with precision, subtlety, and perfection rarely seen. And yet that desire for perfection is not put at the service of the search for any beauty, but for a respectful contradiction in works full of concerns and dignity ”(Wolfgang Becker, in Belkis Ayón, Halte mich hoch… (Breining, 1995).

Remembering Belkis Ayón, on the 10th anniversary of her physical disappearance Isbel Alba February 4, 2015 A Date that Cannot Be Forgotten September 11 has become a date of loss and pain in our collective imagination after the terrorist attacks against the twin towers, in New York, 2001. However, although we share the grief of thousands of people for whom this day represents a tragedy, a before and an after, we have another motive to write these words. Today, I am writing about another departure, perhaps more intimate because it is ours, perhaps more questionable because it was intentional, leaving behind a mystery and the terrible sensation that accompanies bitter, inexplicable gestures. I am speaking of the Cuban artist Belkis Ayón Manso (1967-1999), who one day, ten years ago, took her own life. Belkis Ayón was an exceptional woman, with unparalleled energy and talent. Together with artists Sandra Ramos and Abel Barroso she implemented La Huella Múltiple (1996) (The Multiple Print), a project that would change forever the appreciation of Cuban print-making, an art expression that after its splendor in the 19th century due to the booming commerce of sugar and tobacco, had practically fallen into oblivion in the Cuban artistic milieu after the rise of Modernism in Cuba. Regarding the work and legacy of Belkis Ayón In some previous lectures and writings in which I have introduced the work of Ayón, I have not doubted in classifying her prints as palimpsests[3]. Using the collographic technique the artist would superpose layers of various textures to create reliefs that represented a very personal iconography, inspired in the expressions of the intangible legacy of the Abakuá[4], the different parts of the initiation ritual of the said religion or the characters of their foundational myth. In my opinion, what she did was a remake of something that had already been assimilated through oral tradition thanks to the intellectual and historical-anthropological approach allowed by books such as El Monte and Abakuá Secret Society by Lydia Cabrera, “The Ñáñigos tragedy”, by Fernando Ortiz or Los ñáñigos, by Enrique Sosa. Interpreting these works that reproduce an oral tradition, Ayón created her own imaginary graphic work. A world elegantly portrayed in the images of her prints. Although representing the Afro-Cuban legacy in our painting is constant since colonial times, her work may be considered a rarity from multiple viewpoints, since Belkis Ayón rescued printmaking in the midst of the Special Period. Engraving allowed her, among other things, to produce more with less and to exhibit a chromatic minimalism bordering on exquisiteness. During the last stage of her life, Belkis Ayón combined her work as an artist with that of being a professor at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) and with her position as a vice president of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Whenever she had the chance she disseminated the work of her students and colleagues. Thus, she became an active promoter of Cuban culture on a national and international scale. However, the factor that made her work deserve recognition, beyond the Cuban intellectual circles, is the Abakuá topic around which she articulated her poetic language and the refinement of her collographies and prints in general. According to Alex Rosenberg, a prestigious specialist of international graphic arts and renowned collector, the results achieved by this artist with the collographic technique had no match in the world of art up to date [5]. This gives her demise another dimension. Thus, we may affirm that Belkis Ayón had the merit of having taken the Abakuá culture to its highest form of recognition in the world of visual arts and of introducing it into the museum spaces. It is a paradox that thanks to a woman, this centuries-old, sectarian culture achieved universality in the most demanding circles of international art of the 20th century. At present, the works of Belkis Ayón are part of fourteen cultural centers and museum collections, among which are the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, the Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn, Holland, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, the Museum of Fort Lauderdale, USA, el Museum of Latin American Art of California, USA, Ludwig Forum Fur Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany, the State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, among others. Her works are also in numerous private collections in various countries. Nobody has been able to explain the reasons for such an abrupt death at a moment in which her career was in full growth and when she had the acceptance of critics and other art professionals. Her physical disappearance left a void in the Cuban artistic milieu. Many of her colleagues coincide in pointing out that seldom the human and artistic values have combined in such a special way in a single person. Perhaps such departure is the only reproach that can be pointed out. However, in her gesture, there is a certain coherence with the myth that fascinated her. This allows us to draw a parallel with the philosophy of the romantic poets or other artists who have committed suicide. The figure of Belkis Ayón, therefore, is fused with the myth of Sikán giving place to a circle of meanings with a certain aura of mystery, offering thus great research material for historians and anthropologists. The Belkis Ayón Estate After her death, her legacy became protected by the Belkis Ayón Estate, an institution directed by her sister, Dr. Katia Ayón, with the advice of prestigious specialists in Cuban art. This institution, in which the family legacy and the cultural legacy of the nation coexist, has a model of management that is not widely known in the current socioeconomic context of the island [6]. Thus, self-managed for ten years by Dr. Ayón it has been developing a superb job which includes the preservation of Belkis Ayón’s works and the dissemination of her legacy by organizing exhibitions, publications, and other cultural activities. According to an invitation that I received recently, the Belkis Ayón Estate has programmed Nkame, the first retrospective exhibition of the artist to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her demise. The show was officially opened last Friday, September 11, at 6 p.m., in the Convent of San Francisco de Asís, in the historical center of Old Havana. The exhibition includes some 83 works such as collographies, lithographs, and chalcographs made from 1984 to 1999. Likewise, other graphic documents of shows in which Belkis took part, as well as texts and photographs of the artist printed on large canvases are on display. Organized by Dr. Katia Ayón and with the curatorship of Cristina Vives, the Nkame exhibition shall remain open to the public up to November 28th. During those two months and as part of the cultural program accompanying the exhibition, the halls of the convent shall take in lectures on the work of Belkis Ayón, the launching of the magazine La Gaceta de Cuba, and the launching of the projects of six young printmakers, some of them former students of the artist. Nkame is a deserved homage to the work of Belkis Ayón, a great exponent of printmaking in the history of Cuban art. [1] This fish was the embodiment of Abasi, supreme deity of the Abakuá. See SOSA RODRIGUEZ, Enrique, Los ñáñigos, Casa de las Américas 1982 Award, Ediciones Casa de las Américas, Havana, 1982. [2] Sikan’s sacrifice, which will appear in her works as a leitmotif, will bring about the Abakuá tradition in the ancient ethnic groups of Nigeria (the Efik and Efor peoples). It is, doubtless, a foundational myth that afterward, as Ortiz pointed out, during slavery – through a transculturation process-, gave origin to the Abakuá fraternity in Cuba in the towns of Havana and Matanzas (1830). See : ORTIZ, Fernando, La “tragedia” de los ñáñigos, Poligraf, Havana, 1993. [3] ALBA DUARTE, Isbel (2009) The myth of Sikán in Cuban culture: tangible and intangible heritage in the work of Belkis Ayón. Reflections on the strategies for preservation and the methods for recovering her legacy. The lecture was given in the framework of the 28th International Congress of the Association of Latin American Studies, Río de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 13, 2009. [4] An example of the expressions of intangible heritage is the figures in the parades, such as the little devils or iremes as well as the signatures or anaforuanas covering the bodies of the practicing Abakuás, the animals that will be sacrificed, and the musical instruments that take part in the various sections of the initiation ritual of this brotherhood (Author’s note). [5] In ROSENBERG, Alex and Carol, Belkis Ayón in memoriam, 2005 BACK TO CRITIQUE next article

NKAME: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE CUBAN PRINTMAKER BELKIS AYÓN, SELECTED AMONG THE BEST ART OF 2017 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES December 8, 2017 Yadira Leyva Ayón © The New York Times The Nkame Exhibition: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón, exhibited this summer at Museo del Barrio, New York (June 13 - November 5) was selected among the best of the art of 2017 by the New York Times, according to the selection of Holland Cotter, one of three New York Times art critics who shared his picks. Link to the article HERE Likewise, Holland Cotter, Art Critical Co-Director of The New York Times, reviewed the exhibition at Museo del Barrio, NY. Link to the article HERE PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS

BONDED BETWEEN THE ESOTERIC AND MANIC ART October 6, 2014 Cecilia Crespo © OnCuba Magazine Under the title of Witches, but also Warlocks, the Aglutinador space and the Maniac Art Museum these days exhibit a sui generis exhibition that blends art with rites and religious beliefs from different parts of the planet. Celebrating its twenty years, this space for creation and exhibition directed by the artist Sandra Ceballos, brought together nearly fifty people in this exhibition where spirits, amulets, orishas, paranormal events, and energy are the protagonists. Artists, esoterics, astrologers, researchers, healers, ritualists, believers, practitioners, mystics, both Cuban and foreign, invoke magic, sensuality, and spirituality through various techniques, styles, textures, genres, and both conventional and experimental expressive possibilities. The show, made up of 38 works, can be seen until the end of this month in the colonial house of Alfredo Ramos, on Línea106, permanent headquarters of the Museum of Maniac Art in Havana. Sandra Ceballos told OnCuba that the exhibition is not about showing religious or folk art. The artistic intention is to excavate in the enigmatic presence of the "Eggun or dead as the matrix of all clandestine psychophysical phenomena, legitimize and qualify precisely those intelligent energies that do not sin as egocentric and that are possibly more authentic and spontaneous than the material world." “Defend their spokesmen, historically discriminated against and repressed by 'science'. To investigate the 'vaporous intervention' of spirits in life, that is the objective" she added. Bruges ... puts an extensive catalog for the consideration of disbelievers and faithful, impossible to visualize and enjoy all at once. It has works by renowned intellectuals and artists such as the researcher Natalia Bolívar, who exhibited her voodoo dolls in a glass case called "Five Spirits." You can see an installation with ashes of human corpses, by Iván Perera, from his series Immanents. Digital impressions of Álvaro José Brunet, Susan Bank, Rodney Batista also join the show together with works by Javier Alejandro Bobadilla Díaz, José Bedia and Juan Francisco Elso Padilla. A video installation by Tania Bruguera is exhibited that records the petition to the Pope to support the immigrant and undocumented community to apply for the 2014 Vatican City citizenship. You can also see an interesting photograph of the Colón Cemetery, in silver on gelatin, by Pedro Abascal from 1983. From Santiago Rodríguez Olazábal, recognized for addressing religious themes in his work, there is a large-format card: "Evil entered him from below." A video-projection of Marta María Pérez Bravo is included, one of the most spiritual pieces, without a doubt. The installation "EPD" by José Ángel Vincench: gold dust on sheets and candles and a painting from the 2010 Manuel Mendive National Prize for Plastic Arts, are other main attractions of the selection. The Canadian duo The Fastwurms (Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse), with their medieval witch costumes, including a conical hat, arrived with their "Love is Law" installation of varying dimensions: a large spider web made of black bras. Also memorable is “Incompetent King” by Hugo Consuegra, ink and pen on cardboard (1959), and Roberto Diago's work, “Motivo de bosque”, a mixed technique on masonite from 1993, of great vitality and expression as much of his work. Espacio Aglutinador will continue to exhibit genuine and transgressive art as an “emergency room” and autonomous plaza for the promotion and development of Visual Arts, as its founder explains: “This exhibition gives continuity to the work of our non-exclusive space to disseminate the witchcraft of the world, from the dawn of humanity to the present day, passing through the traditions, religions, spells, enchantments, and philosophies of various places and historical moments. As has already been demonstrated on other occasions, Aglutinador is always renewing itself to create alternative projects to its alternativeness ”, concluded Sandra. PREVIOUS NEWS NEXT NEWS