The San Isidro Movement is an independent arts movement based in Havana. Key members of the art collective have spearheaded Cuba's turn to digital production and dissemination. The San Isidro movement during the COVID-19 lockdowns became involved in disseminating digital art forms, and members were prominently involved in the 2021 "Patria y Vida" mass protests across the island.
Members of the San Isidro artistic movement are among a new generation of artists shifting towards fully digital production and exhibition of works. Unlike previous artistic movements, bound by the limitations of traditional production and exhibition, such as the Antillano Movement, Volumen Uno, and Los Carpinteros, respectively prominent artistic movements during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s known for their cutting-edge works grappling with themes of scarcity and resistance to state control, the San Isidro movement represents an important turn in Cuban art history as members of the movement utilize digital art to innovatively bypass traditional methods of production and repressive state censorship. The members of the San Isidro movement featured within the research guide have creatively circumvented state control of the arts, which, since 1961, has prohibited independent public showings of works unauthorized by the state. The San Isidro movement's unique utilization of digital technology emerges as a resourceful approach through which artists create and share works contending with themes of hunger, resistance, and resilience. Members of the artist collective engaged in a hunger strike during the COVID-19 lockdown and increased food insecurity on the island due to the pandemic. Artists added the complexity of producing their works while capturing the impact of the hunger strike in the midst of a health crisis marked by censorship and collective food insecurity.
*Article on the San Isidro Movement
*Wikipedia: San Isidro Movement
https://havanatimes.org/cuba/what-the-san-isidro-movement-means-for-cuba/
Commentary by K. L. Cespedes