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A performance by Cuban artist Reynier Leyva Novo ―also known as Chino Novo― has been censored at the Norwegian embassy in Havana.
The incident reportedly occurred shortly after the artist's donation of 3800 CUC to the Bienal 00, an independent biennial of Cuban art that challenges the authorities on the Island.
The censored work, "Children of Silence", was a performance in which a chorus of 24 Cuban deaf individuals would intervene, interpreting, over musical tracks and in sign language, five songs that had been banned in Cuba at different times over the last few decades.
They are Group Secretary, by Mocedades; The Blas Party, by Fórmula V; Revolution, by The Beatles; When I Left Cuba, performed by Celia Cruz; and It’s Coming, by Willy Chirino.
The artist had been invited by the Norwegian embassy in Cuba and the Figueroa-Vives studio to participate in an exhibition whose theme was precisely censorship. However, following the artist's monetary donation to the Bienal 00, the reaction was swift; the Norwegian ambassador was called to the MINREX to be informed that the performance had been banned.
According to the artist, the ambassador was informed that "the ANSOC had a complaint" because the artist was "manipulating the deaf as if communication were impossible, as if the disability were intellectual rather than auditory."
Chino Novo has reported that from the beginning he did not receive a positive response from ANSOC and that the national director of that Association was present at one of the trials.
From there, the officials of ANSOC did not stop and began personally visiting some of their members who participated in the performance in order to intimidate them.
According to its president, the performance manipulated the deaf "because it was not art, it was politics." They also stated that Chino Novo was "doing that because they were mentally weak," referring to the backup singers.
The turning point that marked the final censorship was the mentioned donation of money to the independent art biennial, organized by a group of artists on the Island.
According to statements from the artist quoted by Cubanet: "I was always thinking: This is the Norwegian embassy, a space of democracy and freedom, everything will be fine. They have done other more direct projects, much more like a chorus of the deaf. I told myself this is going to happen."
In less than two days, they tried to resolve the situation: the artist met with the ambassador, and she attempted to contact the officials of the organization, but on the same day as the exhibition, with the stage, audio, and lights set up, they censored it.
"I think they got scared with all that," says Novo, referring to both the Norwegian ambassador and the gallery owner Cristina Vives.
And concludes the Cuban artist Reynier Leyva Novo: “Luis Manuel (Otero Alcántara, organizer of Bienal #00) is like the devil right now, and my stance regarding the Bienal is public; it is one of total support because it is an idea that has been misinterpreted in every possible way."
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