designboom visited this exciting event and picked the most talented up and coming artists to watch out for.


'managers', 2008 by levi horta
image © designboom

the installation is a left-over situation of a TV press conference on a planned baseball transfer-game.
it refers to the frequent attempts of national baseball players leaving cuba.
voices heard over speakers are those of the players, all were saying :
'we're happy to play for cuba', 'how could we betray our fans', 'sure we going to beat these guys of the opposition!'...
meanwhile the backdrop panel already alludes to sponsors and agents, who stand to earn a significant
amount of money off a cuban player.


image © designboom

players who look for a way out are hardly a rarity among cuba's baseball elite.
there has been an exodus of more than 50 baseball players from cuba's shores since 1990.
the players could have left cuba anytime they wanted, but economic concerns such as the price of flights,
travel documents and passports put such a move out of reach for many in cuba.


image © designboom

the last recorded escape happened in july 2008. on their trip to edmonton in canada,
2 national junior team's star players - pitcher noel arguelles and infielder jose iglesias, have been missing.
two other members of the cuban national junior team defected in 2000,
disappeared the last time edmonton hosted the tournament...