Academic and Critical Meeting (From a letter from the Centro Wifredo Lam, September 2000)

	The Seventh Havana Biennial will open on 17th November 2000, with 170 artists, designers and architects, from more than 40 countries, attending. Various spaces in the Historic Center and the modern part of the City of Havana will be utilized, on the theme of Closer to One Another. As has been the case at the six previous Biennial, we have organized an Academic and Critical Meeting, through debating sessions, focusing on the central theme of the Biennial, which, on this occasion, will be personal relations, communication between human beings, and the issue of the role of the new agents which interpose themselves between men. As there are certain topics which arise from the central discussion theme - among them the significance of architecture and urbanism, as conditioning factors of human spaces - we considered it necessary to briefly describe them below, in order to make our aim of encouraging your active participation in the event, more tangible. These topics will be discussed in work sessions, whether through individual presentations or round table, chaired by a member of the Organizing Committee, and, broadly speaking, are the following: •   The changes that have taken place in internal and external physical spaces and in human behavior, as a result of the introduction of new information and communication media, into our daily lives. Changes in term of housing and the city, public and private space, and the citizen. new means of information and communication. Changes in the notion of housing and of city, of space public and private space, of citizen. •   The way in which the increasing violation of physical, geographical and cultural territoriality, as a result of the system of economic globalization, changes the notion of the individual, nationality and universality, and also transforms the most current artistic practices. •   Given that new technology and media have broadened the concept of art - especially with the introduction of global information networks - in such a way that art has become virtual, what theoretic and conceptual tools can be used to evaluate, study, analyse and redefine not only artistic creation, but also exhibition spaces, the legitimacy of institutions and the critique and history of art? •   Multiculturalism has become a more complex notion, due to the introduction of artists and cultural expressions from poor countries into the structures and cultural and social institutions of highly countries - thus transforming a concept that was debated in previous years. Do you believe that is the fundamental reason, or is it the result a new strategy, by both sides, of appropriating artistic creations? •   A more expansive approach to areas that have already been explored, and the increasingly playful nature of works of art are shaping a large area of the world which is governed by the visual image. Could it be that these two powerful trends are an indication of the dominant artistic practice of years to come, or are they just a passing phenomenon? We would be very grateful if you contact us first regarding your interest in participate as spectator in the International Symposium. Registration fee is 50 USD and covers all the session of the Symposium, the abstracts journal, free access to all the exhibitions of the Biennial, the folder including all documents of the Biennnial and preferential prices for other cultural and recreational activities. For more information, please contact us through the following e-mail: wlam@cubarte.cult.cu or by the fax number (537) 33-8477 and we will gladly take care of your case.   Arq. Nelson Herrera Ysla Director Seventh Havana Biennial Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center   Lic. Ingrid Blanco Díaz Coordinator Academic Meeting Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center

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