Art and the Subject in Revolutionary Cuba

This paper explores the ways in which alternatives to capitalist social relations have manifested themselves in the cultural field in Cuba. Its approach is consistent with Don Mitchell's insistence on a “focus on the material development of the idea (or ideology) of culture”(1995: 102), insofar as culture is considered a central part of the ideological development of the Revolution. Cuba's multifaceted conception of culture is not confined to the field in which creative endeavours are undertaken. Creative activity is understood as a process of social production, with human happiness as its end product, which implicates culture in both education and emancipation. While considering the formation of new subjectivities through culture, this paper elaborates the huge effort that was made by the revolutionary government to ensure that both culture and creativity were accessible to all. In the process, it offers a glimpse of ways in which the traditionally discrete categories of artist and audience have been redefined.