MoCAA
MoCAA organizers are sending a cache of Cuban art to Mérida.Photo: Courtesy

Cuban, LatAm Art Arrives in Mérida at New MoCAA Exhibition

ByYucatán Magazine

Sixty-five works of contemporary Cuban and Latin American art have opened at the Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida, marking the first exhibition staged in the city by the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas, or MoCAA.

The show, drawn from the Miami-based museum’s permanent collection, brings together oil paintings, photographs on paper, prints, posters and a single mixed-media installation built from tapestry, jute, ceramic, thread and rope.

MoCAA
MoCAA organizers are sending a cache of Cuban art to Mérida.Photo: Courtesy

Leonardo Rodríguez, MoCAA’s founder, says the exhibition is meant as a starting point rather than a one-off. He wants it to introduce new voices in contemporary art to Yucatán and lead to further exchanges between institutions on both sides of the Gulf.

“Work with living people who embrace art,” he says, describing his focus on engaging working artists rather than treating the collection as strictly historical.

Rodríguez says seeing the pieces in person changes how people experience them.

“That’s where the work speaks for itself. You start to feel something in the texture, the brushstroke — something you don’t get from seeing a photo or just posting content on social media,” he says.

Ivonne Ferrer, an artist and MoCAA’s deputy director, says building an audience for contemporary art takes more than hanging paintings on a wall. She points to ceramics workshops, literary events, magazine launches, concerts and theater as ways to connect artists with the public over time.

El Pueblo Mérida

Rodríguez and Ferrer agree that mounting exhibitions is costly, and both say museums need partnerships with businesses and other institutions — plus a pipeline of newcomers who get close enough to the work that some eventually become collectors themselves.

MoCAA traces its roots to 2016, when it opened in Kendall, Florida, as a community art space before growing into a museum built around Cuban painting, sculpture, ceramics and photography.

In Mérida, the exhibition opened alongside “Utopías,” a companion show marking 20 years of the visual arts program at UADY’s architecture, habitat and design school. That collective exhibition draws on several generations of artists working in different techniques.

Both shows run through Oct. 18 at the Galería de Arte Municipal and the ground-floor lobby of the Museo de la Ciudad, with free admission. The museum, a former Federal Post Office building a few blocks from Mérida’s Plaza Grande, recently hosted another exhibit exploring memory through textile art — part of a steady run of contemporary shows at the venue this year.

As part of the same cultural weekend, Mérida also unveiled a plaque honoring architect Max Amábilis Rhoton near Parque de las Américas, and the dance company behind “Tres veces la medida de mi cuerpo” continued its run at the Centro Municipal de Danza’s Teatro de las Artes.

MoCCA Exhibit: Fast Facts

  • What: “Cuban art from MoCAA’s permanent collection,” first MoCAA show in Mérida
  • Works on view: 65, including paintings, photography, prints and an installation
  • Where: Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida, Galería de Arte Municipal
  • Companion show: “Utopías,” marking 20 years of UADY’s visual arts program
  • Dates: Through Oct. 18
  • Admission: Free

With reporting from La Jornada Maya

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