Race, Anthropology, and Politics in the Work of Wifredo Lam

Download or read book Race, Anthropology, and Politics in the Work of Wifredo Lam written by Claude Cernuschi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-05-31 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reinterprets Wifredo Lam’s work with particular attention to its political implications, focusing on how these implications emerge from the artist’s critical engagement with 20th-century anthropology. Field work conducted in Cuba, including the witnessing of actual Afro-Cuban religious ritual ceremonies and information collected from informants, enhances the interpretive background against which we can construe the meanings of Lam's art. In the process, Claude Cernuschi argues that Lam hoped to fashion a new hybrid style to foster pride and dignity in the Afro-Cuban community, as well as counteract the acute racism of Cuban culture.