La Plástica en Abril Provincial Exhibition (Plastic Arts in April) constitutes an event of artistic creation and promotion, with a competitive nature, which exhibits the best in the field of visual arts in Las Tunas.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- For more than three decades, it has been developed with a periodicity conditioned by historical, economic, and social circumstances.

Now, in its 32nd edition, it is dedicated to Faure Chomón Mediavilla, the 60th anniversary of the Words to Intellectuals speech and the creation of the Union of Artist and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC), and the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS). Given the current health situation, this year, exhibitions are held virtually.

The event arose in Las Tunas in 1984 when a group of intrepid young local creators (today, artistic vanguard) decided to incorporate the call as part of a national initiative to hold group exhibitions in each province, to publicize the most notable of the plastic arts in each territory. April was chosen to pay tribute to the victory of Playa Girón. Its premiere was in the old Fayad Jamís gallery, now the Center for Improvement of Culture.

The 80s was a period of splendor in the plastic arts in Las Tunas, as it happened in almost the whole country. From then on, the event was gradually setting the course for local work, as it was an incentive to show artistic proposals and dialogue between creators and works. It does not require sticking to strict themes or techniques; on the contrary, it favors the use of dissimilar and contemporary languages while providing expressive solutions in favor of more open and direct communication with the public.

As art has always been an unequivocal reflection of its historical moment, the attacks of the Special Period in the 90s led to a certain decline of La Plástica en Abril, whose permanent headquarters have been located since then in the gallery of the Provincial Council of the Visual Arts. This stage was characterized by the lack of essential materials and implements, and the fact that creators had the urgent need to market their works to survive, rather than exhibition interest.

It was not until 1997 that it regained its spirits and leading role in the artistic community. The advent of the new century did not lead to notable changes in its organization since the context was quite similar to the previous period. The proposals, formally and conceptually, would gradually acquire a different spirit over time.

In a general sense, its program is distinguished because the protagonists - consecrated, experienced, or new artists - come together in frank communion, revealing trades, approaches, points of view, and identity stamps through their aesthetic proposals about universal themes or another nature always marked by the renewal and experimental efforts. Likewise, the presence of national personalities of the guild as juries or lecturers is common each year.

"The Plastic Arts in April" becomes a transcendental event, both in the artistic and cultural panorama of the territory as it reflects the circumstances,  environment, and the time in which it takes place and runs, which is an allegory of here and today. For this reason, on this occasion, the central exhibition retraces the steps of several founders, among other guests, and the collateral exhibitions are both personal and collective.