The online Museum of Dissidence in Cuba is an exclusively digital online museum created in 2016 by the visual artist Luis Manuel Otero visual Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the art historian Arte Yanelys Núñez Leyva.
The digital space functions as a dynamic platform for artists unable to exhibit their works physically in Cuba due to state censorship. The digital museum provides an unofficial history of Cuban art produced in resistance while making possible, via digital media a hybrid approach to art production and dissemination, one that utilizes technology to reconceptualize the function of “a museum.” As a fully digital museum, it offers the opportunity to be accessed from anywhere outside of Cuba. It blends the virtual world with the “real” world via the technology that makes the museum possible.
The digital museum's founders describe their efforts as a desire to provide an alternative to the state’s official spaces, which do not allow for dissent. The digital museum is a project that aims to chronicle Cuban history from the perspective of dissidence as a marker of the epoch. The goal of the digital museum is to expand the concept of “dissidence” and the need for various alternative political voices and opinions in Cuba. The digital museum of dissent was founded via a collaboration called “El Ranchito” between artists in Cuba, Finland, Japan, and Spain. The digital museum, when initiated, made available the visual art of dissent via the website. The founding of the museum resulted in two live presentations in 2016 in Havana, at the home of founder Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara. Collaborators of the digital museum of dissent included independent journalists, artists, art critics, and various supporters.
For her work on the digital museum of dissent, co-founder Yanelys Núñez was censored by the state and removed from her position at the state publication “Revolucion y Cultura,” one of the leading state-run publications on Cuban art and culture. The state declared that the digital museum of dissent, and her role as co-founder, was in direct violation of official state policy. This led to attempts by her to contest the expulsion from the position on the grounds of freedom of speech and human rights violations.
The digital museum provides a safe space for artists. The webpage is hosted on servers outside of Cuba. It is the only fully online museum for censored artists. The digital museum provides an assessment of Cuban art in dissent during various epochs in Cuban history, from colonization to the contemporary. It aims to chronicle the efforts of various artists and individuals who have opposed oppressive power systems within the island. One of the significant goals of the digital museum of dissent is to offer a space for dialogue and artistic creation via exhibitions, public programs, blogs, and publications that transcend the limits imposed by the Cuban state. The digital museum of dissent is not affiliated with the state, and its objective is to generate dialogue within and outside of Cuba about the ways in which the concept of dissent can generate progress and ultimately benefit the nation.
Commentary by K. L. Cespedes