Cuban representation at the Biennial of Graphic Arts and non-aligned cultural policy

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines how the policies of international cultural exchange of socialist Yugoslavia are reflected at the level of biennial crossroads, using the example of the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Arts (IBGA). Our research is based on the analysis of archival materials, existing literature, and interviews with the participants of the Biennial in the studied period. The Cuban example is highlighted in this paper to examine the example of the renowned designer and graphic artist Félix Beltrán to show that there was no firm international cultural policy on the Yugoslavian institutional level. With the transition to market socialism and the liberalization with which Yugoslavia began to approach the Western capitalist economy, something similar happened at the level of international cultural policy. The West held the leading position in global cultural politics, which managed to preserve capitalism and make it part of the culture with its hegemonic cultural code. This also announced the beginning of the decline of international socialist history, which was very noticeable in the field of cultural crossings, such as biennials.