The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) finally recognized the collection of posters of Cuban cinema: 1960-1980 as part of the ‘Memory of the World’ in May 2023.
In July 2017, the Cuban Commission of UNESCO inscribed Cuban cinema posters (1960-1980) in the ‘National Registry’. In October 2017, they entered the Latin American and Caribbean Registry. In 2018 they were also recognized as ‘Cultural Heritage of the Cuban nation’.
Finally, in May this year, UNESCO announced that Cuban film posters had been inscribed in the ‘Memory of the World Program’. Anne Lemaistre, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, said that in her opinion, this is a very important program because it advocates for the preservation of the world’s Documentary Heritage and constitutes the collective memory of humanity. It differs from ‘Built’ and ‘Intangible Heritage’. It is a new category, more recently created, in 1992.
She said that to date works of cinema have been listed but also documents from other fields such as, for example, the documents related to the archives on the genocide of Cambodia, or the founding laws of the City of Havana.
Cuba already had documents in the Memory of the World Program: the negatives of the ICAIC Latin American newsreels, the José Martí foundation and the original manuscripts on the life and work of Che Guevara.
The director of the UNESCO Regional Office explained that since 2017 they decided to take time to be able to carefully analyse which works deserved to hold that status.
Lemaistre praised the immense talent of Cuban designers who, with few means and using the screen printing technique, had the ability to encapsulate the essence of both national and foreign films.
She mentioned the extraordinary creation, the creativity of the posters of Cuban cinema, the beauty, the effective communication and the impact of that contribution to the visual education of the population, in the first years after the triumph of the Revolution.
“I think it is a very complete work and it is one of the images we have of Cuba when we arrive. These movie posters can inspire new generations of designers.”
She noted that registration in the Memory of the World Program will contribute to making this collection visible internationally and drew attention to the need to preserve it.
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