An edition of Pierrot y la luna, a dramatic poem by Cuban poet Nancy Morejón, is on display in the Special Collections and Archives reading room through the end of April. The book was designed by Rolando Estévez, the director of the Cuban book arts collective called Ediciones Vigía, and is on loan from a private collection.
Ediciones Vigía was founded in 1985 by artist Rolando Estévez and poet Alfredo Zaldívar in Matanzas, Cuba, a city known for its poets and Afro-Cuban culture. Members of Ediciones Vigía crafted books using ordinary supplies that were easy to procure: brown paper, found objects, and repurposed materials. Each publication was released in an edition of two hundred or fewer copies. Vigía books often contain an element of playful surprise in the form of foldouts, flaps, and insertions. All Vigía books feature the oil lamp as a symbol of the workshop, which Estévez included as “a bright light that is a humble light, an intimate and familiar light.”
More Ediciones Vigía books will be on view in the Ellis Library Colonnade in April in conjunction with the conference Afro-Cuban Legacies: Visual Arts, Literature, Theatre, Music and Religion.