Hola, Havana!

By Meredith Deliso

Cuban culture is taking over the Brooklyn Academy of Music this spring, from films to dance to music. But some of the best can be found right in the lobby.

As part of Si Cuba! — a city-wide celebration of art and culture from the controversial island — the Brooklyn Academy of Music is hosting “Hola Havana,” an exhibition of contemporary Cuban artists.

“We wanted to ensure that people visiting BAM during the festival were immediately encountering Cuban culture,” said BAMart curator David Harper. “When you come in [throughout the festival], whether to see a film or the National Ballet of Cuba, you immediately will be encountering Cuban culture.”

Nearly a dozen Cuban artists will be featured from April 20 to May 20, including Alexandre Arrechea, whose playful painting currently graces the cover of BAM’s playbill and will be showing his watercolors and large sculptures, and Douglas Perez, who makes “beautiful painterly paintings,” said Harper. All pieces have been created in the past five years, with threads of social commentary throughout some pieces (it’s not “Viva, Fidel” stuff, mind you) and others remarking on Havana’s architecture and landscape.

“I really wanted to bring a broad sample of artists here so that there was a glimpse into what is being created in Cuba contemporarily by Cuban artists,” said Harper.

“Hola Havana” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music [651 Fulton St. near between Rockwell and Ashland places in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], April 20-May 20. Free. For info, visit www.bam.org.