With this issue of Arte por Excelencias magazine we delve into the creative dynamics of Colombian fine artists, basically in the categories of social intervention, installation and performance. Cuban curator and researcher Ibis Hernandez Abascal provides accurate characterization and analysis of the 42nd National Exhibit of Colombian Artists as she puts us in the know about the latest trends and mounting expectations that marked that massive-turnout event. We’re pleased to know that Ibis’ committed assessment on this exhibit will be informed during the 2011 ARTBO Fair, once again attended by our specialized publication.

Art critic and curator Adriana Almada, who served a stint as general coordinator of the International Congress of Art Critics (AICA), recently held in Paraguay, serves as a contributing writer in this issue with an interesting dissertation on the Paraguay Rape (Paraguayan Path) project, exposed at the La Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires.

Mexican artist Ambra Polidori’s ideas and technical concepts are revealed in an interview with Cuban author, researcher and art critic Rafael Acosta de Arriba, conducted in the wake of her Disagreements exhibition (September-October, 2010) at Cuba’s Photographic Library.

In a special segment we beat the drum on the celebrations for the 100th issue of the Caribbean Tourist Excellences magazine, organized by the Excelencias Group in Havana during the month of July and in which we unveiled the 10th issue of our publication. Within that same framework, two experts from our team –Deborah de la Paz and Jorge de Mello– organized the Review exhibit, featuring outstanding Cuban artists who have been permanently linked to our project.

We didn’t fail to mention in the pages of our magazine the Latin American tour of one of China’s flagship artists of these times, Yang Fudong (1971). The exhibit, opened at the Wifredo Lam Center for Contemporary Art in Havana, Cuba, has aroused tremendous enthusiasm and interest among both fans and connoisseurs. On the conceptual and technical value of the photographs and videos contained in this exhibit, Jorge Fernandez, director of the institution showcasing Fudong’s work these days, wrote a commentary for this issue.

José Carlos de Santiago Publisher