Curtain is the catalog of the thought provoking exhibition by the artist Wilfredo Prieto, who represents the Cuban Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. It’s a visual tour made of different works by the artist, which questions how we come to understand what is part of our reality. It is a matter of perspective, and a poetic gesture that highlights the weight of identity, its significance and the complexities surrounding integration and belonging. It proposes an analysis of reality that revolves around the interplay of opposites and varying levels of sensitivity: the tangible physical realm and the realm of representation, which serves as a metaphorical reflection of ourselves. For despite the many ways in which individuals think, feel and behave, we are part of the same thing.

Siam 1890. Blue-stocking Julie Gallet is an independent-minded Parisian who has made what her English mother describes as an imprudent match. Following her husband to the Far East, she comes to stay with Michael Crawfurd, her British diplomat cousin and discovers a glittering city of golden spires and colonial intrigue as the Kingdom is caught between France’s territorial ambitions and England’s quest for supremacy and influence in Asia. Resisting her family’s entreaties to return home, Julie settles in Bangkok, becomes a French teacher to the ladies of the Royal Court and becomes passionately involved in Siamese life and affairs. Her frank and irreverent journal recounts her growing political awareness along with the awakening of her sensuality. While Paris and London play a game of global chess with the Siamese as their pawns, both she and Michael find their national and personal loyalties tested. Their lives and loves take unexpected turns, and Siam struggles to retain its independence against a ruthless and formidable opponent. Blending fact and fiction, Siamese Tears is a faithful account of the events leading to the Paknam incident through the eyes of those who witnessed them.