Text by India Picton

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The Federación de Mujeres Cubanas, or FMC, call here for “Dedication to production and defence”. In a revolutionary fashion, the poster celebrates the FMC’S 23rd anniversary, dating the work to the year 1983. The FMC was founded on August 23 1960, directed and established by Vilma Espín. The year of 1982 saw Hurricane Alberto cause havoc across the island. The major task of rebuilding undoubtedly needed a collective effort which these posters, or carteles, are designed to encourage.

The floral halo stretches wide to frame the collaged photo of the federation. The central figure (possibly Espín herself?) is fit to fight and bolt upright, gun to her chest in a stance of discipline and determination. Vilma offers a representation of the transnational scope of the FMC, often acting as an interpreter for Cuban heads of state, heading national and international conferences on women and representing the country at the UN.

The flower, whilst cartooned, can echo or allude to the iconic Marisa flower in Cuban culture. It remains a significant symbol in that it was used during the war of independence by women to enclose messages in secret. In the colonial era they adorned women’s hair. An earlier indication of women’s role in struggle here is used to frame and decorate the other capabilities of women within the contemporary revolutionary ideology, acknowledging the precedent set by previous generations.

By this date the Castro government had the family code mandated by law for 8 years. This code was pushed through and organised by Vilma and the FMC in 1975, which criminalised men’s avoidance of household chores and childcare. The bill faces criticism for a necessary nuclear family, but nevertheless signifies the entire scope of the revolutionary programme for women beyond the ability to fight. Instead of asking women live the doble jornada or ‘double day’ and essentially ‘do it all’, the bill instead recognises the existing private work entrenched into Cuban women’s lives. One outcome of the code was the giving of shopping priority to working women. They could drop off their bags at the store in the morning together with a shopping list and pick them up in the evening on the way home already filled.

Collaged into the flowers are black and white images indicating the breadth of roles that women were not simply just allowed to participate in; dancing, farming, building, science and art were actively encouraged. What gives it its legitimacy of message is the bravery of embellishment in revolutionary messaging. Cuba’s interlinking with the Soviet powers is aesthetically stretched in its lacking of socialist realism. The art of the 80’s is significant in that it was created by the first children who grew up in the bosom of the 1959 revolution. Contrasting accounts pose this as both a dark era and a golden era for island. Embedded within the poster is the spirit of the producers themself, a vibrancy which seems opposed to the continuing violence. Embracing a stylised flair, these carteles demonstrate the revolutionary commitment to democratising artistic practice through the graphic form. The pallete aids a harmony of form in its balancing of tones between the blues, oranges and reds.

A certain fear strikes me in the faces of the women. Their stiff locked shoulders present a tension beyond a salute. A sincere commitment to the fight but a clear understanding of the risk present in the face of a cold war. Perhaps a commitment to a feminism which empowers women to fight but which simultaneously disagrees with the necessity of this being ‘feminist’.

Bio

India Picton is a recent graduate of Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, where she completed a Masters of Research in the theory and philosophy of art. She completed her undergraduate degree in 2020 at the Courtauld Institute in London in the History of Art, specializing in Cuban digital art, postmodern photography, and contemporary Iran. Her research is currently exploring the intuition of the gut, working through theories on affect, animacy, sentiency and consciousness. She works at the National Portrait Gallery in London and is interested in pursuing a career between writing and curatorial research.

Instagram: @indipind