Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MATTRESS FACTORY DELEGATION TRAVELS TO CUBA FOR EXHIBITION OPENING Contemporary Cuban Art Exhibit Moves to Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory in October PITTSBURGH (April 9, 2010) – Despite the most enduring trade embargo in modern history, a delegation from the Mattress Factory museum in Pittsburgh will be traveling to Havana, Cuba for the April 16 opening of Queloides/Keloids: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art. The exhibit is being hosted at the Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art in Havana (April 16 - May 31, 2010). Several artists will then travel to Pittsburgh to work in-residence and create new work for a Mattress Factory-produced Queloides/Keloids exhibition (October 8, 2010 - February 27, 2011). For their trip to Cuba, Mattress Factory co-directors Barbara Luderowski and Michael Olijnyk will be joined by Claudia Giannini, Development Associate; Jeffrey Inscho, Director of Media and Public Relations; and Owen Smith, Exhibitions Coordinator. In addition to attending the Queloides/Keloids opening, they will be visiting many of the exhibiting artists in their studios in anticipation of the show’s move to Pittsburgh. Their trip will be documented by Jeff’s Viajes Artisticos blog (translated to mean Artistic Travelers) and will be featured on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s web site. The twelve artists invited to participate in the Cuban show are renowned for their critical work on issues of race, discrimination, and identity. The Mattress Factory exhibition will include works currently being shown in Havana as well as new installations created by the artists specifically for the museum. For the first time in its history, the exhibition will utilize two of the museum’s major gallery spaces in two different buildings. For Queloides/Keloids, the Mattress Factory is partnering with the Cuban show’s curator, Alejandro de la Fuente, Research Professor of History and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2004 the museum mounted CUBA: Artists in Residence, which presented new installations by eleven artists living in Cuba. “At that time, we were responding to a political situation in our country,” explains museum co-director Michael Olijnyk. The show was an unquestioned success despite the restrictions that prohibited the artists from traveling to Pittsburgh. When De la Fuenta asked the Mattress Factory to collaborate, the political climate had changed and there was renewed hope for an artistic exchange. “Even though governments make it difficult for people to travel, you can’t stop ideas and the arts from crossing borders,” says Olijnyk. “Art is an international language that has to – and can – cross borders, start dialogues, and hopefully make people realize that we’re all similar.” Funding for the exhibit has been generously granted by: Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Christopher Reynolds Foundation-Atlantic Philanthropies, Lambent Foundation, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Richard King Mellon Foundation, and Heinz Endowments. # # # Editor’s Note: The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art that presents “art you can get in to” – room-sized environments, created by in–residence artists. Located at 500 Sampsonia Way, on Pittsburgh’s North Side, since 1977, the Mattress Factory is hailed as the best facility for installation art in the United States.   Hi. My name is Jeffrey. As the Director of Media and Public Relations for the Mattress Factory, I'll always be the one communicating with you. You can get in touch with me here: Jeffrey Inscho Media + Public Relations Office: 412-231-3169 x230 Mobile: 412-417-2144 Email: jeffrey@mattress.org Twitter: @MattressFactory You are receiving this message because our records indicate you are a working member of the media. artsnews@absolutearts.com from this list. Our mailing address is: Mattress Factory 500 Sampsonia Way Pittsburgh, PA 15212 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2010 Mattress Factory All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile