Three faculty members from Wichita State University's School of Art, Design and Creative Industries are participating in the 12th Havana Biennial: Between the Idea and Experience, and the group exhibition, "Entre, Dentro, Fuera / Between, Inside, Outside," May 22-June 22 in Havana, Cuba.

In this unprecedented political moment, the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries is front and center for these historic diplomatic discussions, shifting global dynamics, and are significant players on the contemporary art stage when all eyes are on Cuba.

The Havana Biennial was established in 1984 and is one of the longest-standing biennial art exhibitions. “Entre, Dentro, Fuera / Between, Inside, Outside” marks the first time in the history of the Havana Biennial in which a Cuban and U.S. curator have closely worked together on a project.

WSU faculty participating in the event are recent Fulbright recipient Royce Smith, associate professor of contemporary/global art history and director of the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries; Levente Sulyok, associate professor of painting and drawing; and Elizabeth Stevenson, adjunct lecturer of art and architecture and director/co-founder of the Fisch Haus Gallery.

Smith co-curated “Entre, Dentro, Fuera / Between, Inside, Outside” with prominent Cuban curator Dannys Montes de Oca Moreda of the Wifredo Lam Centre of Contemporary Art. Their exhibition examines the artistic relationships between Cuba and the United States as inherently complex, and includes various perspectives and diasporas.

Sulyok presents his installation, “Re-Distribution of the Sensible,” which democratizes the biennial by including Havana-based artists and artisans who were not officially invited. Stevenson completes her multi-site project, “Eat/Sleep/Work: the House, Deconstructed,” in which micro-houses are constructed within interstitial urban spaces. Other participating artists include: Stephanie Syjuco; Pedro Lasch; Agnes Chavez; Omar Estrada; Adonis Ferro, Dennis Peralta and Maisabel; Harold Vázquez; Glenda Salazar; Levi Orta; Susana Delahante Matienzo; and Fidel Ernesto Garcia.

This exhibition is extremely timely as the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States is explored in earnest, and contemporary art begins to serve as a vital, vibrant mediator of diverse experiences, cultures and histories. Attending the Havana Biennial will be U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Tom Udall, Representatives Raul Grijalva and Kathy Castor, and congressional military liaisons Lt. Col. Burnadette Maldonado and Maj. Amanda Figueroa.