Cuban model for education in animation and stop-motion design

Abstract

This work explores the evolution of education in animation and stop-motion design, proposing a contextualized interdisciplinary pedagogical model for Cuban art education. It focuses on the pioneering efforts of the Graphic and Digital Art Department at the National Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro in Havana as a key case study. The analysis highlights how the department’s principles, methodologies, and productions provide an invaluable practical and theoretical framework for integrating visual arts, graphic design, illustration, and digital technology into a coherent curriculum. It argues that San Alejandro’s experience in merging graphic and visual traditions with new media forms the ideal foundation for developing an animation and stop-motion design program that is technically robust, aesthetically aware, and deeply rooted in Cuban art pedagogy.