Idania del Río

Cuban designer and graphic artist. She studied at the Instituto Superior de Diseño Industrial, ISDI, in Havana where she graduated with a degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication in 2004. She also studied Art Direction at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV, in San Antonio de los Baños.

She was part of the Camaleón collective while studying at ISDI. Camaleón represented a turning point in Idania del Río's life: it was the experience that helped her reassert her concerns as a student of grasping the real world. Beginning by playfully and distractedly altering her immediate surroundings, the collective's "downloads" evolved into increasingly relevant concrete projects.

She was a professor at ISDI for two academic years.

Between 2008 and 2009 she worked in Uruguay as part of the Palermo Estudio team. After returning to Havana, she directed art projects in the fields of performing arts and design.

After graduating from Instituto Superior de Diseño Industrial, she has accumulated a curriculum that includes international poster exhibitions, book and magazine illustration, art direction of theatrical projects, animation work in Uruguay, and awards such as the Cubadisco for graphic design.

Her aesthetic captivates through its apparent simplicity, through a drawing that recalls childlike qualities although there is nothing naive in her proposals. Humor is one of her creative keys.

Personal and Group Exhibitions
Among her personal and group exhibitions are Teatro Gráfico, at Casa Editorial Tablas-Alarcos; Célébrer Paris, in Paris; D´Disegno. Respuesta Cubana!, at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in Havana; NORD-SUD, European and Latin American graphic designers and Happy Together, the latter two also in Havana. Her work has been shown in venues such as Cuba, France, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and the United States.

Del Río's poster has been presented in Cuban and international exhibitions, including the Seattle-Havana 2007-2008 poster exhibition by designer Daniel Ryan Smith, and the 2009 ghost posters curated by Cuban curator Agapito Martínez and the 2011 Últimas Escenas exhibitions.

Clandestina is one of Idania del Río's most recent projects. A small and attractive space in the heart of Old Havana, a shop-atelier that offers well-designed products presented in an original way. More than a design boutique like those that have emerged in recent years in multiple cities around the world, Clandestina is a promotional space that, from a new perspective (more real, more concrete) showcases the work of young Cuban designers who, committed to the good values of design (social character, ecological awareness, respect for aesthetics and quality) unleash their creativity to produce 99% Cuban design.

Del Río opened Clandestina, the first independently-managed Cuban design store, in Old Havana with Spanish business partner Leire Fernández in February 2015.

T-shirts, bags, hats, pillowcases, posters, and glasses are some of the products sold in the store, a few meters from the Havana Plaza del Cristo.

She was part of the group of Cuban entrepreneurs who met with U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Havana in April 2016. Del Rio and Clandestina were covered in the documentary "StartUp Cuba Episode 6: Clandestina - Cuba's First Independent Fashion Brand".

Idania del Río has successfully promoted her work in Vogue magazine. In this way, Clandestina became the first Cuban clothing brand to reach that prestigious fashion publication.

"Actually I'm in Havana" reads in English on a t-shirt, while others say: "Soy mamey y sirvo para hacer batido" and "99% Cuban design". These products are sold in the Havana store and have been sold since late 2017 in the United States through e-commerce.