Craft as Anti-colonial Universalism in the Bienal de La Habana

Abstract The distinction between art and craft is one touchstone of Western aesthetics. Among other implications, this distinction has supported hierarchical valuations of culture that support processes of coloniality. In 1983, coherent with its mission of Third World solidarity, the Cuban state created the Bienal de La Habana, an international exhibition of art that sought to question Euro-American hegemony in the aesthetic field by showing objects from Latin America and the Third World. This article explores the dimensions of practiced and theoretical work performed within the Bienal, with especial attention to those invested in the reevaluation of the seminal art vs craft distinction. In doing so I show that, in addition to revisiting core principles of Western aesthetic philosophy, biennial curators opened as well fruitful avenues for an emancipatory curatorial practice that resonates with present concerns to decolonise the art institution.