Wifredo Lam: The Eternal Exile
Official Selection – Sunny Side of the Doc 2023
Winner – DocEdge Festival Special Prize 2023
A pioneer of mixed-race painting combining Western modernism, African symbols and Chinese tradition, Lam pursues the same fight as his close friend and famous Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, “to paint the drama of his country, the cause and the spirit of blacks”.
Wifredo Lam is the first Sino-Cuban artist, and this particular ethnic mixture gives his work its color. Born to a Chinese father, a man of letters and public writer for the Chinese community in Cuba, and a loving and protective mixed-race Congo-Spanish mother, Wifredo grew up surrounded by the lush nature of the Caribbean. A great traveler at heart, he crossed the Atlantic many times during his life, following either his artistic inspiration or his political battles, making him an artist fully committed to his time.
Unfairly misunderstood, this documentary aims to rediscover Wifredo Lam, one of the very first multicultural artists of the contemporary era.
The film follows Wifredo Lam’s granddaughter who embarks on a journey in the footsteps of her grandfather.
