TERCERA BIENAL DE LA HABANA '89 CATALOGO

Havana: Centro Wifredo Lam / Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1989. First edition. Near fine.. Rare catalogue of the third Havana Biennial, a rich and energetic exhibition with a global reach, curated by the staff of the Centro Wifredo Lam under Cuba's Ministry of Culture, opening a week before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The staff of the Centro Wifredo Lam, working under constraints of budget, staff, and political considerations, developed a curatorial methodology through necessity that began to "develop a new concept of what a large-scale international exhibition could be," anticipating the curatorial practices of the coming decades in its rejection of prizes and refusal to divide exhibits by nation. "The simple act of bringing works together from across Latin America and the Caribbean had a resonance that may be difficult to grasp from afar: the Bienal de La Habana was providing a forum taken for granted in Europe and North America, but practically nonexistent in its own precincts" (Weiss). A rare document from an important art event of growing significance. 11'' x 8''. Contemporary marbled boards backed in gilt-stamped black calf. Original front cover bound in. Illustrated throughout in black and white. 367, [1] pages. Light edgewear and scuffing to boards. Minor soil to edges of text block and endpapers, light wear to original front cover.