Artist Tania Bruguera to remain in Cuba as officials weigh charges

Artist Tania Bruguera to remain in Cuba as officials weigh charges
Carolina A. Miranda
LOS ANGELES TIMES
carolina.miranda​@latimes.com

Artist Tania Bruguera will have to remain in Cuba for at least 60 more
days as prosecutors weigh charges against her, according to a statement
issued by her sister Deborah Bruguera and the artist's activism
organization #YoTambienExijo (#IAlsoDemand).

Bruguera is a Cuban national but shows her work internationally and has
lived for long spells in the U.S. and Europe. She was detained by Cuban
authorities multiple times around New Year's Day for attempting to stage
a performance about free speech in Havana's iconic Revolution Square.

The artist is now residing in Havana on conditional release as
prosecutors decide whether to file formal charges, which could include
inciting public disorder, resisting the police and inciting a crime.

In the statement, Bruguera said she has faced challenges trying to
secure legal representation.

"It is very difficult to find a defense lawyer that would want to take
my case since it is a state case against me," she is quoted as saying.
"Lawyers have told me it is a lost cause; others have told me that they
are afraid of the professional consequences if they defend me."

Bruguera is known internationally for staging provocative performances
that explore social and political issues. In New York in 2011, she
launched an immigrant rights movement in collaboration with the Queens
Museum of Art. Last year, a piece titled "The Francis Effect" was shown
at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. It consisted of a letter-writing
campaign to Pope Francis to persuade the pontiff to give immigrants
Vatican City citizenship as a gesture of protection.

In early January, the artist spoke with The Times about her detention.

"I really thought I could use the public space for this conversation,"
she said then. "What I wanted to do was activate a metaphor, a way of
saying: give people the power to say what they want."

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah

Source: Artist Tania Bruguera to remain in Cuba as officials weigh
charges - LA Times -
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-tania-bruguera-cuba-20150204-column.html