Galleria Continua celebrates a decade in Cuba with The Ability to Dream

A decade after becoming the first international contemporary art gallery to establish a permanent presence in Havana, Cuba, Galleria Continua commemorates this milestone with a significant exhibition titled La Capacidad de Soñar / The Ability to Dream. Running until July 19, 2025, the group exhibition brings together 40 emerging and established Cuban artists from Cuba and abroad who have previously collaborated with the gallery. This showcase reflects Galleria Continua's enduring commitment to fostering cross-cultural dialogue through contemporary art. The anniversary celebration goes beyond a single exhibition, with the gallery hosting a rich month-long program of performances, events and artistic encounters to spotlight the richness and dynamism of Cuban culture.

During the 12th Havana Biennial in May 2015, the Águila de Oro theatre became the site for the gallery’s site-specific installation by Daniel Buren, Perimetro. Later, the gallery formalised its presence in Cuba in that same space under the moniker Arte CONTINUA Habana, inaugurating its first official exhibition in the space, Anclados en el Territorio. In this show, six Cuban artists—Alejandro Campins, Elizabet Cerviño, Carlos Garaicoa, Susana Pilar, Reynier Leyva Novo and José Yaque—engaged deeply with the theatre’s layered history.

The gallery’s impact in Cuba has been both symbolic and substantial. Over the past decade, Arte CONTINUA Habana has transformed this former cinema in the heart of Chinatown into a dynamic hub for Cuban and international art. “Art, like the wind, should not be stopped by borders. If this were just a statement or a general principle, we wouldn’t have settled in Cuba. The kind of work that defines Galleria Continua – both on and off the island – is participatory, inclusive, generous, and extraordinary in its love for art and its commitment to overcoming boundaries. These are values we have found, cherished, and shared with the Cuban people,” notes gallery founders Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo in an official release.

Continua has hosted numerous significant exhibitions, enriching a common vision between Cuban and international artists including Chen Zhen, Hans Op de Beeck, Zhanna Kadyrova, Jorge Macchi, Pascale Marthine Tayou and Julio Le Parc, among others – “alongside a vibrant community of talented Cuban artists whom we are now proud to celebrate,” says the gallery the official release. They also represent artists like Carlos Garaicoa, who has played a pivotal role in fostering cultural exchange through his Artista x Artista program, facilitating residencies and cultural exchanges between Cuban and international artists.

As The Ability to Dream unfolds across the historic walls of Águila de Oro, it becomes more than a celebration—it is a culmination of a decade-long dialogue between artists, communities, and cultures. In honouring the artists who have shaped its journey and the context that continues to inspire it, Galleria Continua affirms its belief that art can transcend geography, politics and time. Ten years later, the gallery’s Havana outpost stands as a beacon for contemporary Cuban art and as a living, evolving space where collaboration across borders remains a radical gesture.