The project reflects on the historical impact of the Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement, which emerged in the 1970s, and examines how it embraced a vibrant aesthetic, textiles, and craft traditions to challenge the hierarchies of an art world traditionally dominated by men. It also explores how the movement and its use of ornamentation directly challenged the austerity of Minimalism and anticipated contemporary currents focused on inclusion and global artistic traditions.

Beauty as Protest… seeks to bring together a group of Cuban artists whose work engages in a dialogue with the same decorative elements that the P&D movement championed in its time. The participating artists are David Anasagasti, Mabelín Castellanos, Esteban Leyva, Luisa Mesa, Julio Neira, Juan Manuel Rivero, Miguel Rodez, and Henry Rodríguez.

As the exhibition's curator states: “Today, countless artists demonstrate traces of this influence in their work. However, due to a historical lack of documentation, many of these artists are unaware of the precise lineage that originally legitimized the materials and methodologies once rejected by the most influential galleries of the time.”