Today my Printmaking class took a field trip to what they're attempting to dub the SOWA area of Boston - basically the gallery - more gentrified area of the south end to see a show at the Laconia Gallery organized by the Boston Printmakers of work by contemporary Cuban artists. It reminded me of a film I saw called Inventos: Hip-Hop Cubano which documented the incredible amount of improvisation - homegrown equipment and determination in the face of total lack of resources and equipment - in the development of Hip-Hop in Cuba. As with the block parties in New York - powered by sucking electricity from street lights and bringing forth the first DJ's and a new musical and cultural movement - Cuba's Hip-Hop is a product of a place where the primary resource is stifled human creativity. And this exhibition showed me that Cuban print making in many ways is similar to Cuban Hip-Hop in that necessity has bred some of the most innovative solutions and techniques and some of the most vibrant and powerful works artistically I have seen. The imagery is so strong and the creativity bursting - more ideas than materials is the impression I get. And yet even under such conditions - these artists put together 300 edition portfolios and have an active and amazing printmaking scene - the limited presses and workshops serving as gathering points for many artists.