Barack Obama has made no secret of his desire to visit Cuba. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters: I know theres one person in particular who hopes President Obama will be in Havana at some point in the relatively near future, and thats President Obama himself.
He later clarified that he did not foresee a trip in the near future and that he did not know if Obama would get to visit the island before he left office.
However locals in Havana were amazed when a man who looked like the US president walked into a bar and ordered a mojito. He then left the bar and walked around the streets of the city, much to the surprise of people sitting out on their doorsteps.
Of course it wasnt really Obama, but Cuban performance artist René Francisco Rodríguez, who bears a striking resemblance to the US president. He further enhanced the resemblance by adopting Obamas greying closely cropped hair and wearing a sharp suit.
The stunt was filmed for his video art piece Entropia, which is on show at the 12th Havana Biennial.
This years event started on 24 May – the day after the US and Cuba began a fourth round of talks aimed at overcoming obstacles to opening embassies in each others capitals on the road to re-establishing diplomatic ties. The talks failed, but officials said they were able to make significant progress.
Everyone involved in this years Biennial agreed the political developments cast a wide shadow over the event. One of those artists is New York-based Duke Riley, who built an ice rink on the citys famous Malecón esplanade to symbolise the thawing of tensions between the US and Cuba.
Riley also brought with him some 200 pairs of ice skates for young and old to take a spin on the synthetic ice under the blazing Caribbean sun.
The rink also played host to a game of ice hockey between The National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana and The Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York.
The latter is staging a major exhibition at the Biennial. Included are works from Andy Warhol, Tim Rollins and Willie Cole, which will be displayed alongside David Hammonss black, green and red African American Flag. The Cuban museum will also display parts of its permanent collection at the Bronx Museum from 5 March through 29 May 2016.
The Havana Biennial is held in the Cuban capital every two years and this years exhibit will bring together more than 200 artists from over 40 countries under the theme Between The Idea And The Experience.
Exhibitions will be held in Havanas squares, parks and public spaces, in addition to the more traditional galleries and museums.
Cuban artist Alex Hernandez said the Havana Biennial is an important time for many local artists to get noticed internationally, while also having the chance to network with creative figures from around the world.
A surge of interest in all things Cuban is extending to paintings and sculpture, with US art collectors and dealers descending on Havana for the Biennial amid expectations that art prices will rise because of the détente between the former Cold War rivals.
Even under the embargo, it is legal for US citizens to purchase Cuban art, though works cannot be directly commissioned by a US buyer and cannot have been financed by the Cuban government. Some collectors have taken advantage of that loophole, though prices remain relatively low, according to Howard Farber, whose foundation publishes the online Cuban Art News magazine.
He sees that changing fast. Youre getting a lot of collectors who are running to Cuba to buy art, Farber said. Its the biggest opportunity for an art collector to start a collection.
