Los Carpinteros: Transportable City
April 7 ö June 2, 2002

This outdoor installation on TCMâs grounds in Makiki Heights highlights the work of the Cuban artistsâ collaborative Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters). Alexandre Arrechea, Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodr’guez have been working together since 1991, when they were students at Havanaâs Instituto Superior de Arte. The groupâs name, which dates to 1994, arose from early works that were reminiscent of furniture or work done by a carpenter.

First shown in the 7^th Havana Biennial exhibition during winter 2000-01, Transportable City (Ciudad Transportable) comprises ten movable tents made of nylon and aluminum tubing. Each tent alludes to a type of city building, such as a church, a domed capitol, a factory or a jail. Rodriguez explains, ãItâs about what is the basic minimum that a person·or society needs to function. We wanted to create a basic cell of what a city could be.ä A group of drawings and studies by Los Carpinteros for Transportable City is on view simultaneously in TCMâs John Young Gallery at our Makiki Heights location.

According to Carol S. Eliel, Curator of Modern and Contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the groupâs current work explores not only how art is physically made, as earlier pieces did, but also ãissues that relate to human existence at the beginning of the twenty-first century.ä

The artists see the notion of a portable city as a ãglobal phenomenonä that transcends place or nation. This installation seeks to underscore the often diasporic, itinerant nature of the modern world, in which

larger phenomena such as war or natural disaster sometimes force the displacement of cultural groups or entire populations. For the artists, this portability also suggests that the tents can function as ãa way to relieve nostalgia.ä Castillo explains, ãWhen people have to leave their places, they think about their city, their building that they left behind. If you carry that [with you], you donât even have to think about it.ä

Los Carpinteros will also present a free slide lecture on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm in the University of Hawaiâi Art Department Auditorium. This lecture is co-sponsored by the UH Intersections program.

The presentation of the Los Carpinteros: Transportable City installation in HawaiÎi is made possible in part by a grant from The Laila Art Fund, established by Laila Twigg-Smith (1944-1998) with the HawaiÎi Community Foundation. The LAFâs mission is to nurture and promote HawaiÎi as a center for the exchange of contemporary art and artists, through programs and initiatives that offer opportunities for artists to immerse themselves in different environments, absorb various influences, and realize fresh visions. Additional support for the presentation of this exhibition at TCM is provided by American Airlines, the Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel and CSX Lines.