In discussion with Niurma Pérez Zerpas

Courtsey of Niurma Pérez Zerpas

Niurma Pérez Zerpas currently lives and works in Havana. She studied Art History at Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba (2005) and has a Master's Degree in Community Cultural Development (2010). For several years, she taught at the University of Las Tunas and was the director of the Department of Sociocultural Studies, where she specialized in the subjects of Art History, Cuban Art, and Cuban Cinema. For three years, she directed the Servando Gallery in Havana, a leading space in emerging Cuban art. Since 2019, she has served as the Director of the Cuban headquarters of Galleria Continua, where she has overseen more than 20 exhibition projects.

I had the pleasure of asking Niurma about AI’s influence on the art world, What advice would she offer to a budding artist seeking representation at a gallery, and so much more

UZOMAH: What makes Habana such a special place to have a gallery?

NIURMA: In this case, for the celebration of Galleria Continua's 10th anniversary in Cuba, we decided that we wanted to make an exhibition not with the exclusive list of the ten Cuban artists we represent, but with all the Cuban artists with whom we had worked at some point during the decade. Thus, the exhibition “The Ability to Dream”, with 40 Cuban artists[i], presents a much more enriching vision of the panorama of contemporary Cuban art, including from great masters to young artists. In addition, the openings in Havana manage to attract a very diverse public, many of whom then join the program of activities that take place during the time of the exhibitions. Once the exhibitions are inaugurated, we promote talks with the artists, workshops for children, meetings with art academies and art history students, live music concerts, among others. 

Cuba is a country rich in cultural traditions, with very warm people and artists of a very high level. The founders of the gallery undoubtedly fell in love with Cuba and found in Havana a unique place to open Galleria Continua, being the first and only international gallery to open a space on the island.

U: What do you hope visitors will get from this exhibition?

N: The selection was based on the trajectory of exhibitions and projects with Cuban artists over the last ten years, which led to the list of 40 artists.

The exhibition is very heterogeneous, the works explore dissimilar themes, problematics, formal registers. I think I would be satisfied if visitors were able to notice some approaches to issues of the Cuban context, and also universal.  The exhibition is displayed in eight exhibition venues, and in each of them very interesting dialogues are generated between the works.

U: Can you describe your experience managing art galleries and how it has prepared you for the role of overseeing the curation, promotion, and execution of this exhibition?

N: I have a degree in Art History, a Master´s degree in Community Cultural Development and I also spent several years as a university professor before dedicating myself completely to the world of art galleries. So all that preparation, especially my years working in the academic environment, had a great influence on my way of understanding and projecting art management. At the beginning I was in charge for some years of Galería Servando, a leading gallery in the promotion of emerging art in Cuba, until 2019 when I started to manage Galleria Continua. Throughout these years, working with artists and doing exhibitions always put you in front of a different challenge. In turn, Galleria Continua's headquarters in Havana is a special and beautiful space, but it also demands to work with its dimensions and its imposing visuality. For this show, the gallery space was not enough, and it was necessary to expand to the city, occupying eight locations in total, which became another challenge. Teamwork with Lorenzo Fiaschi, one of the founders of the gallery, was also fundamental for the outcome of the exhibition.

U: What specific outcomes do you hope this exhibition will bring? How do you see it potentially influencing the art world?

N: The exhibition aims to show a general panorama of contemporary Cuban art through the perspective of these 40 artists. Of course, being a selection, some relevant names are missing, but I think the exhibition does show a diversity of themes, languages, media and forms of expression, with works from great masters to young artists, who achieve diverse approaches to current Cuban and universal issues. Another interesting result was to bring together this group of artists, even though many of them are currently living outside Cuba, especially in Spain, the United States, Mexico and Holland. Presenting this exhibition in Havana is a way of continuing to promote the high level of Cuban artists, both those living in Cuba and those who have decided to move elsewhere.

U: What advice would you offer to a budding artist seeking representation at a gallery? How do you see this guidance shaping their career?

N: For the vast majority of artists, it is tremendously complex to find representation in art galleries, especially because, regardless of where they live and work, there are always more artists than art galleries, so access becomes limited. In any case, my advice to artists is always to not stop working, to not stop producing, as much as possible, the ideas they have. I believe that in the end, with time, an artist's work speaks for itself, for its merits and its value. That is why it is important not to stop working, to take advantage of the alternative exhibition spaces they have at hand, and in this way to promote and share the work they do.

U: Can you discuss your gallery vision and strategies for engaging with the art world vs engaging with the public?

N: In this 2025, Galleria Continua Habana celebrates it´s 10th anniversary but in San Gimignano, Italy, we celebrate the 35th anniversary. The gallery was born with the intention of giving continuity to contemporary art in a landscape rich in signs of ancient art. The choice of the various locations that today reach eight in various cities around the world: San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins in the Parisian countryside, Havana, Sao Paulo, Rome, Paris, has given rise to new and rich forms of dialogue between unexpected geographies: rural and industrial, local and global, art of the past and art of today, renowned artists and emerging artists. It has created a strong identity that remains faithful to a spirit of perpetual evolution and commitment to the development of contemporary art, making possible the constant creation of new experiences for the public.

U: What makes art something that is timeless?

N: The sensibility of the human being, in any era, has always been touched by the ability of art to communicate emotions, feelings; to look at the past and reflect on the present and the future; to experiment other sensations and experiences on the spiritual plane that are only possible in the field of art.

U: What inspired you to become a director in the art world?

N: I am interested in and enjoy very much all the processes that take place in the management of an art gallery, in an increasingly changing and complex context; and within this, what seduces me the most is the work with the artists, the constant dialogue, the discussion from the gestation of an idea to its materialization and then its communication and feedback with the public. I am interested in the strategies that allow the development and growth of the gallery institution and, therefore, of its artists.

U: With the rapid advancement including AI, where do you see the place of in-person art viewing in the next couple of years?

N: I believe that technological development will always have an impact, and at the same time a way of manifesting itself in art, but in no way can it replace the artist, nor the experiences at a physical and experiential level. In any case, both experiences can coexist.

[1] Juan Carlos Alom, Balada Tropical, Abel Barroso, Alejandro Campins, Yoan Capote, Iván Capote, Laura Carralero, Yaima Carrazana, Celia & Yunior, Elizabet Cerviño, Gabriel Cisneros, Ariamna Contino, Raúl Cordero, Susana Pilar Delahante, Jenny Feal, Leandro Feal, Joaquín Ferrer, Diana Fonseca, Carlos Garaicoa, Rocío García, Flavio Garciandía, Alejandro González, Osvaldo González, Álex Hernández, Orestes Hernández, Reynier Leyva Novo, Luis López Chávez, Carlos Martiel, Yornel Martínez, José Mesías, Yanelis Mora, Michel Pérez Pollo, Eduardo Ponjuán, Wilfredo Prieto, Ángel Ricardo Ríos, Arlés del Río, René Francisco Rodríguez, Lázaro Saavedra, José Yaque.

The exhibition “Ability to Dream” opened with a reception on May 17, from 11:30 am to 7:00 pm. The exhibition will run through July 19, 2025. For more information about this exhibition and others at Galleria Continua, please visit their site here. Galleria Continua can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Artsy.