Angel Delgado - Performance
- Artist/Author/Producer: Angel Delgado
- Confronting Bodies: Cuban government under Fidel Castro
- Dates of action: 1989
- Location: Havana, Cuba
- Description of the Art Work
- The artist formed a circle with animal bones on the floor, spread the
day's "Granma" (the Cuban newspaper) in the center, dropped his pants
and defecated on it.
- Description of incident
- This performance was part of an exhibition entitled "Sculptured Object"
at the Center for the Development of the Visual Arts in Havana. The
exhibition was immediately closed. Two days after the incident, the
twenty-three year old artist was fired from his job. When he returned
home, the state secret police were waiting for him. He was charged with
"public scandal" and sentenced to six months in prison. "It was an act
of political desperation," he said "I wanted to draw attention to the
absence of freedom of expression in Cuba. I wanted to express myself
against censorship."
- Results of incident
- Delgado was freed after serving the six month term. Since his release,
he has not been able to exhibit his works or perform anywhere in Cuba or
abroad.
Source: "Castro's Final Hour", Andres Oppenheimer
