Antonio Zaya

When I learned of Antonio Zaya¿s sudden passing last September 14 in Girona, Spain, I thought of the story Francisca y la Muerte (Death and Francisca) by the great Cuban narrator Onelio Jorge Cardoso. In this memorable story, Death unsuccessfully tries to take hold of the tireless Francisca, who manages to escape by continuously being on the move, working here and there. Antonio Zaya, like Francisca, was full of accomplishments, always in the middle of a project, and always difficult to reach at any given place. Not even at his email address, where messages would accumulate unanswered from the most unimaginable places around the globe. Born in Canarias, Spain, Antonio Zaya was hyperkinetic and versatile from his early years. A performer, painter, and poet, this creator has been recognized as a cultural promoter, editor, art critic, essayist, and curator of international exhibitions. Many of these latter shows had to do with Latin-American art, like the Havana Biennale, for which he edited the catalogues of three of its editions (1994, 2000, and 2003). For these contributions, he was awarded the Distinction for Cuban Culture (2003), one of the only five foreigners to have ever received it. During the most recent edition of this Biennale, which he considered a symbol of the Third World¿s cultural resistance, Zaya served as guest curator. Founder of Blanco magazine (1979), Balcón (1987), and co-Director of Atlántica Internacional from the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), Antonio Zaya also collaborated on many international magazines, ArtNexus among these. He edited and was an adviser for Arconoticias magazine and was Director of the Arcolatino periodical. He was also curator of Latin American Contemporary Art in the Futuribles section at the ARCO Fair. He was different from other promoters in that he not only promoted visual artists, but also writers, art critics among them. He was only 53 years of age when Death finally caught up with him, as he was preparing the Second Architecture, Art, and Landscape Biennale of the Canary Islands. It took his body but not his work¿his many years of inexhaustible and fertile labor. Israel Castellanos-León