IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 8 ENGLISH | Page 111

Abikú – Installation by Santiago Rodríguez Olazabal

The marginal artist develops his creative
work without any contact with the established artistic institutions. His or her motivation is simply the pleasure of performing
with original techniques and unusual materials. They reflect extreme mental states,
unique idiosyncrasies or elaborated fantasy
worlds. In the religious and artistic practices
nowadays we can find points of encounter
between rituals and the artistic discourse, not
anymore as the stereotypical vision of folklore, but as an integral part of the contemporary art languages. Thusly there are spaces
where these artists participate with sovereign
independence, as subjects of multiple cultural concerns, even esoteric. They engage in
the exchange of ideas and personal or collective projects within their lifeworld. The

official culture insists on imposing values
that actually crumble in the praxis, and on
avoiding that such spaces gain access to
promotion and dissemination. One of the
recurring themes in the marginal art is the
Afro-Cuban syncretic worldview with all its
derivations. Another trends in the so-dubbed
poor art (Povera) flows between folklore and
new technologies. The evident counterpoint
between the scientific worldview and the
Afro-Cuban rites, deities, and legends is still
a controversial ideological component of the
national ajiaco. The conceptual disputes
have often led to situations in which the
creative artist had to divert his or her works
to follow the paths imposed by the cultural
policy.

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