CUBA
Cuba: 20 of the Twentieth Century
Havana, Cuba, October 8, 2002
- Everybody is doing it, so why not JAPE? A century
went by. Let’s get scholarly busy and wrap things up for future
generations! JAPE is the pen name of Jorge Alberto Piñero
Estrada, co-editor/co-layout designer/ humor writer/ cultural
advocate of dedeté magazine. Taking into account
the healthy state of Cuban cartooning since ancient times and the
relative lack of studies in the field recently, JAPE could not resist
the temptation and interviewed more than 50 scholars, cartoonists,
journalists, designers, graphic artists, and editors. His questions
aimed at finding out which Cuban cartoonists had the biggest impact
on the genre in the 20th century. More than 70 artists were nominated.
10% or seven of the finalists are related to dedeté magazine
as current contributors, recent or past staff members. Does this
fact raise eyebrows among the non interviewed? Not really. Nobody
questions the tradition of dedeté as a trend setter and path
blazer in Cuban cartoons in the 80s’, and less intensely,
due to economic shortages, in the late 90’s. Of
course, absolute truth is elusive when one tabulates other people’s
opinions. But it was not JAPE’s intention to provide the last
word in that subjective matter. He wishes that the collection of
opinions will serve as a needed homage to the many Cuban cartoonists
that helped lift the art form into the high level it is now on the
island. Here is the list of the 20 finalists in alphabetical order.
Alberto Morales Ajubel, Alfredo Martirena,
Arístides Hernández (ARES),
Arístides Pumariega, Carlos Villar
(CARLUCHO), Conrado Massaguer,
Eduardo Abela (ABELA), Francisco
Blanco (BLANQUITO), Gustavo Rodríguez
(GARRINCHA - he is WittyWorld's
Cuban editor), José Luis Posada, Juan
David, Juan Padrón, Luis
Wilson, Manuel Hernández, Rafael
Blanco, Ricardo de la Torriente, René
de la Nuez, Santiago Armada (CHAGO),
Tomás Rodríguez Zayas (TOMY),
Virgilio Martínez.
|
