| Description |
No matar ni ver matar animales (1985) created by Marta María Pérez Bravo and When I Am Not Here/Estoy Allá (1994) by María Magdalena Campos-Pons are two photographs inspired by Afro-Cuban mythology, particularly the beliefs and symbolism of Santería, a syncretic religious tradition stemming from the history of slavery and colonialism in Latin America. Most scholarship on the syncretic religions in Cuba is informed by Fernando Ortiz's theory of transculturation, which contextualizes cultural mixing through the lens of European dominance. This tendency often ignores the reciprocity of cultural exchange between Africa, the Americas and Europe that has shaped creole identity, especially female creole identity. The main goal of this study is to reposition Pérez Bravo and Campos-Pons's works within the context of creolization as a means to better understand the role of gender and Afro-Cuban tradition in different constructions of creole identity. This thesis proposes an interpretation of No matar ni ver matar animales and When I Am Not Here/Estoy Allá through the postcolonial trope of cultural cannibalism (first elaborated by Brazilian poet and playwright Oswald de Andrade in 1928), as a means of providing an alternative analysis of how the legacies of colonialism drive contemporary artistic production in Cuba. This study positions Pérez Bravo and Campos-Pons's artworks as engaging the concept of cultural cannibalism, and thereby challenging the dominant interpretations of Afro-Cuban traditions through notions of transculturation. At stake is a more complex recognition of how colonial histories influence expressions of female Cuban identity. |
