With 65 works screened in four thematic programs, plus lectures, discussions, and a video installation, “Moving Things: Videocreation in Cuba” presented a panorama of Cuban video art to audiences at two international festivals in the US Southwest. Lidia Hernández Tapia catches up with the project’s curators.

For your holiday pleasure, here's a video by the Kringskastingsorkestret and Grupo Hovedoen Social Club of Oslo, Norway, performing a full orchestral arrangement of Tchaikovsky's beloved classic, followed by a quick salsa version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo from all of us at Cuban Art News.

Is contemporary Cuban art fixated on a handful of familiar icons that represent “lo cubanidad”? Is it taboo to depict the “historic leaders” of the Revolution in artistic practice? Does a current reading of “lo cubanidad” demand new symbols—or any symbols at all? Orlando Hernández, co-curator of Waiting for the Idols to Fall, shares his thought-provoking exhibition essay with Cuban Art News.

With José Parlá’s solo show now on view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in New York’s Chelsea district, and French artist JR’s evocative photo installation recently opened on Ellis Island, it seems like a good time to revisit their collaboration for the 11th Havana Biennial, by way of a recently released documentary.

Last month, Cannibal/Carnival: Elio Rodríguez and Douglas Pérez Castro opened at London’s Breese Little Gallery, where it runs through July 21. In this two-part series, Orlando Hernández, the exhibition’s curator, shares his reflections on the artists’ work: their commonalities, their differences, and their contributions to contemporary art in Cuba. Look for Part 2 tomorrow.

She may be the prima ballerina assoluta, but Madame Alicia isn’t the only Alonso to have shaped Cuban ballet. Toba Singer’s biography of master teacher, dancer, and administrator Fernando Alonso reveals why he’s regarded as the “father of Cuban ballet.”

Built in the early 1960s, Cuba’s National Art Schools (now part of the Instituto Superior de Artes, or ISA) have long been regarded as a landmark in modern international architecture. A recently announced grant from the Getty Foundation lays the groundwork for a broader restoration project.

Tonel brings Cuban art to Leipzig, Tania Bruguera directs a Samuel Beckett play, and Abelardo Morell shows experimental flowers in Midtown Manhattan. The Cuba Pavilion gets ready to open at the Venice Biennale, Carmen Herrera prepares a new show in New York, and Humberto Castro opens in Miami.

Today, the most important art fair in the Western Hemisphere opens its doors—and with it, a flock of satellite fairs, gallery shows, and museum exhibitions take over Miami. Janet Batet offers an inside look on where to find Cuban art and artists this weekend.