Wrapped Words

Wrapped Words: Handmade Books from Cuba's Ediciones Vigía, an exhibition of more than 50 handmade Cuban books, was mounted in January 2002 by MSU's Kresge Art Museum in collaboration with MSU Libraries and with support from the Michigan Humanities Council.

The curator of the exhibition, Jeanne Drewes, is assistant director for access and preservation at MSU Libraries and has been in Cuba several times since 1998 through a Johns Hopkins program. Her work in Cuba has included giving workshops on archival preservation issues at the Cuban Instituto de Información Científica y Tecnológica and the Archivo Nacional de Cuba (Cuban National Archives). While in Cuba, Drewes discovered Ediciones Vigía, an artists' cooperative that has produced limited-edition books since 1985. Her purchases of these books, which she donated to MSU Libraries, form the core of this collection.

Because of shortages of paper and other standard book-making materials, the 14 artists at the cooperative use readily available materials such as twine, corrugated board, twigs, and paper made from sugar cane waste in their books. Their editions, ranging from poetry and fiction to literary criticism and literature for children, are full of creative illustrations and three-dimensional features.

"These extraordinary books reflect the spirit and ingenuity of the Cuban people," Drewes says. "They are both literature and art. The opportunity to exhibit them as art has fulfilled a long held dream for me."

Over the course of the exhibition's 11-week stay at Kresge, numerous related events such as lectures, films, and music also took place on campus and elsewhere in the greater Lansing area, evidence of the growing interest and involvement in things Cuban at the university and beyond.

After leaving MSU, the exhibition began a tour of other museums throughout the country.