Levi Orta, The First Artist To Receive A Fee From The National Museum Of Fine Arts Of Cuba

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On the occasion of its participation in the Berlin Art Week, Centrum presents Levi Orta's installation "LEVI ORTA, THE FIRST ARTIST TO RECEIVE A FEE FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS OF CUBA TO PARTICIPATE IN A SHOW" (2017).

After having received an invitation to participate in an exhibition in the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba in Havana, Levi Orta asked the museum to pay him a fee for his participation. However, Cuban legislation currently – although a communist state advocating the end of the exploitation of labour – does not include the payment of fees to artists, so the MNBA had to find other legal ways to make the payment effective.

Orta's aim by installing his gesture-work was to generate attention for the lack of paid work for contemporary artists who do not participate in the market, as well as to propose an update to artists' labour rights in Cuba. Furthermore, the work encourages a complicity between artists and cultural institutions serving as a vehicle to support and promote contemporary art practices that are not part of the market.