Los Carpinteros, Conga Irreversible, 2012

Conga Irreversible (2012) documents an urban performance intervention by Los Carpinteros for the 11th Havana Biennial. Throughout the video, nearly one hundred performers engage in a traditional Cuban street procession known as a comparsa, here executed in reverse along Havana’s famous Paseo del Prado toward the oceanside Malecón. Horn players and drummers perform musical scores backward while singers vocalize inverted melodies and lyrics. Dancers perform elaborate, reversed movements in somber outfits that subvert traditional Cuban costuming, blending fantastical elements with humor across this historical critique.

LOS CARPINTEROS. Conga Irreversible, 2012. Color video, with sound, 11 min., 53 sec. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Sylvia T. Pope. © Los Carpinteros. Courtesy of the artist.