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‘Unfinished Spaces’ screens at SVMA

 

Tying into its exhibition on Cuba titled “Revolutionary Island,” the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art will bring a documentary that explores how art education has evolved in the communist country. “Unfinished Spaces,” by filmmakers Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray, screens on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at the museum, 551 Broadway.

  Sponsored by the Sonoma International Film Festival, the film explores three young architects who were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba’s National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana in 1961. Construction of their radical design began immediately and the school’s first classes soon followed, with dancers, musicians and artists.

  But as the dream of the revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate.

  Forty years later, the schools are in use, but remain unfinished and decaying.

  But now, Castro has invited the exiled architects back to finish their unrealized dream.   

  The cost is $10 for museum members and $13 for members of the general public. To reserve a spot, visit svma.org/calendar.

  “Revolutionary Island: Tales of Cuban History and Culture, The Sarah and Darius Anderson Collection” will be on display at the museum through Sunday, March 24. Through the eyes of some of the country’s great contemporary artists, the exhibition explores different ideologies of the forbidden island in a variety of mediums.

Museum hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information about the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is available at svma.org or by calling 939-7862.