Reviews
"In this age of e-books and mobile media, of pages on screens and images in malleable pixels, this book is the antithesis of all that. A gorgeous, weighty volume with gleaming reproductions and bilingual columns of text, it is a reminder of the sensory pleasures books can inspire. But this book appeals beyond the aesthetic. As a history, archive, and catalogue of Cuba's forgotten Grupo Antillano, it is also a necessary intervention in the political and cultural histories of race in the Americas. . . . The political and aesthetic roots of the evaluation and subsequent demise of Grupo Antillano remain entangled, and de la Fuente's deft presentation invites further inquiry. The volume does not resolve the debates surrounding the representation of slavery, race, spirituality, and belonging, but it recovers the visual and textual contexts, both in the late 1970s and the early twenty-first century, in which those debates took place and persist." --Hispanic American Historical Review, In this age of e-books and mobile media, of pages on screens and images in malleable pixels, this book is the antithesis of all that. A gorgeous, weighty volume with gleaming reproductions and bilingual columns of text, it is a reminder of the sensory pleasures books can inspire. But this book appeals beyond the aesthetic. As a history, archive, and catalogue of Cuba's forgotten Grupo Antillano, it is also a necessary intervention in the political and cultural histories of race in the Americas. . . . The political and aesthetic roots of the evaluation and subsequent demise of Grupo Antillano remain entangled, and de la Fuente's deft presentation invites further inquiry. The volume does not resolve the debates surrounding the representation of slavery, race, spirituality, and belonging, but it recovers the visual and textual contexts, both in the late 1970s and the early twenty-first century, in which those debates took place and persist." --Hispanic American Historical Review, Highly recommended as an introduction to Afro-Cuban motifs in revolutionary art, and to Grupo Antillano's impact on the art scene. Although geared toward a reader interested in the arts, the multidisciplinary aspects and activities of Grupo Antillano, such as its association with writers (Nicolas Guillen, for example), will make this book also an important source of information for scholars tracing the influence of Afro-Cuban religious motifs in revolutionary Cuban literature. It is highly recommended for a collection of Cuban Revolutionary art." —The Americas, "Highly recommended as an introduction to Afro-Cuban motifs in revolutionary art, and to Grupo Antillano's impact on the art scene. Although geared toward a reader interested in the arts, the multidisciplinary aspects and activities of Grupo Antillano, such as its association with writers (Nicolas Guillen, for example), will make this book also an important source of information for scholars tracing the influence of Afro-Cuban religious motifs in revolutionary Cuban literature. It is highly recommended for a collection of Cuban Revolutionary art." --The Americas
