{"id":7,"count":9,"description":"Vig\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00eda emerged in the mid-80s, when Cuba faced difficult times. In 1980, 125,000 Cubans had left for the United States. Ties were severed with the Soviet Union. The \u251c\u00f6\u251c\u00e7\u251c\u251090s became known as the \u201cspecial period,\u201d a time of economic hardship approaching devastation for Cuba. Agricultural production slumped, there were hurricanes, droughts, power outages, oil shortages \u2013 a true test of the Cubans, who were economically and ideologically isolated. \u251c\u00f6\u251c\u2563\u251c\u00bd\r\n\r\n\r\nDespite these conditions, Vig\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00eda would become a thriving haven for artists and writers who remained. They congregated in a house in Matanzas on the Plaza Vig\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00eda or Watchtower Square and began by producing artistic invitations for cultural events. Soon they were making small handmade books. \u251c\u00f6\u251c\u2563\u251c\u00bd\r\n\r\nThe press was founded by Rolando Est\u00e9vez Jordan, who would become the chief artist\/designer of the books, and a Cuban poet, Alfredo Zald\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00edvar. These books contained poetry, short stories, excerpts from literary works. The intention was to make Cuban national and regional authors more widely known and more accessible to the people. Also, as the artist designer Est\u00e9vez states: \u201cour intention from the beginning was to produce books that were works of art.\u201d \u251c\u00f6\u251c\u2563\u251c\u00bd\r\n\r\nMaterials were scarce. They used repurposed donated materials: brown paper, tobacco leaves, buttons, twine, fabric, sand, broken glass, sticks, and earth. With a typewriter and a mimeograph machine they produced 100 or 200 copies of each interactive book. After 35 years, volunteers still provide the labor, authors donate their writings, and Vig\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00eda thrives in that same house as an independent press, unique to Cuban publishing. ","link":"https:\/\/exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu\/vigia\/section\/evolution\/","name":"Evolution of Ediciones Vig\u00d4\u00f6\u00a3\u252c\u00eda: The History of an Independent Publishing House in Cuba","slug":"evolution","taxonomy":"section","parent":0,"meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu\/vigia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu\/vigia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu\/vigia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/section"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu\/vigia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item?section=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}