Cuba, Art Amongst Communism

Visiting Cuba on an art exchange program was fascinating. The Bienale Art Festival was highlighted in every Havana cultural venue and we covered them all. I especially liked visiting the German sponsored Ludwig Foundation for emerging artists and the Contemporary Museum. Chatting with young Cuban artists was rewarding that there are possible venues for them. They belong to the Art and Writers Union and it is tantamount to their career in Cuba, but it is the foundations and interested goverment people that contribute to their art career emergence. I especially like the figuative painter, 23 -year old William Acosta Quintana. After speaking with him, he has a blossoming career for his wonderful work. As do the others there, with sponsorship. I learned that Communism has its radical restrictions for creativity, and Socialism is flawed as no one is equal, but if one is talented and creative, they can rise. One partiular artist named Abel Boroso spoke to us in his studio, and our group understood his statement with attentive awareness of his careful guarded explantions. Using fences motifs for his visual construction paintings, the message is clear; either you are fenced in or fenced out from society and government. We were curious to learn that he is one of Castro's favorites. One of our group commented that Castro must see his own youth in Abel's message, and so it is clear that even the Cuban youth have their own inner rebellion. Abel is lucky enough to gain visas to travel to other countries with his art, clearly attracting collectors. His pin-ball construction sculptures show the barriers of entry and exit from society. Having spent time with him in the studio then seeing his formal show at the Museum of Fine Art gave us insights to the current Cuban art scene. Another venue was The Lavanderia. Modern sculptors shared this old dry cleaning building to collaborate on stainless steel, metal and resin fabulous pieces. Sotheby's sold out one of their industrial iconic series done by three indviduals called theselves The Merge.  Many of us were wanting to buy some of these. Other sculptures were available but the shipping was complicated to the states. Lavanderia was most like what I as an artist am used to seeing with utiliziting studio collaboration. Anything is possible with talent and expansion of public relations. Art News Magazine, we were told, had been to write them up. All through the city were Bienale exhibits. So many countries were noted with visiting artists.  I can't begin to name all the artist's work I saw in this blog. I loved the chain linked fence with a plane image cut into to links perched on the battery. I loved the Lamm Foundation's site specific artists. I loved the Beaux Arts Museum. The Bacardi Rum building, fully restored by the government, housed a great installation of art,  but Bacardi fled. Who knows if they will come back to that monumental building and business, the prettiest building there, I feel. Someone said Cuba should just give it back to them. So many businesses to create again to gain economy for them! So much more I could note on art and politics.  The Yuki Taguchi's kinectic muliple installation in front of the Contemporary Museum was thrilling. We passed it daily en route to out favorite Ernest Hemmingway bar, The Floridita. We commented how so many of the site specific pieces used flight and wunderlust as the theme. Another young Cuban woman artist used her skill as a multi-genre artist to create a short walk diarama-like installation mapping a walk to Miama from the island of Cuba. In hopes of change, I applaud these exhibits and see that all kinds of art is being touted and accepted well in Cuba.

Our group studied the controversial contrasts in Havana, the crumbling decaying buildings amongst the exquisite Spanish Colonial, stately Moorish and Deco ones that are restored. It is a dot-dash effect, one exquiste one stands regally next to one in rubble. The famous Cuban Narratives with economic facts for now toward a future, WHAT future he acknowledges... is unknown. "Maybe a city like Shanghi," he sadly shrugged? In fact a butcher makes more than a doctor. It takes 7 days of work for that butcher to buy a can of paint to tidy his apartment that the goverment provides. The building may be in decay outside, but that butcher can do whatever to the inside. Now the goverment is letting buildings be bought and some are for sale by owner we learned by reading the notices on a tree in the park. There is no real estate agent or government office for it. The deal is between the individuals. But many have apartments they can buy, but don't really know who the owner is. It is is confusing. There are only 2 inspectors on staff for the government; those inspectors have 100,000 people waiting for inspecting of their apartments because of the decaying around them. To upgrade to a bettter apartment, they have to stay in the crumbling site until the inspector can get to them. It can be a two year wait. Miguel Coyula's statistics say their are 3.1 buildings collapsing a day. Good news is that universities such as Notre Dame's architectural department is partnering with Miguel's group to help, a win-win with the amazing treasures of outstanding structures  in the Spanish Colonial style, courtyards in each one, with exquisite tiles, mouldings, murals and carvings.  One of the past sugar barron opulent historic houses has all the treasures the family collected in every crevice before they fled, which the goverment lets tourists tour for a fee. It made me sad to know the family never returned, their business seized, because of their immese wealth they created. Next to it, a slum like,  once chaming Baroque, now distraught stucture with laundry hanging in every balcony, needing a complete overhaul. Children and old ones beg everywhere there is a goverment museum or historic home. Men hussle their women companions in bars pushing them to dance with our men, and men to women, to anyone looking like they have a wallet. 

However, the art and spirit is alive in the cultural and privately owned places. Goverment restaurants are institutional in food, and lackluster in spirit, but in gorgeous buildings. The privately owned restaurants are very much like our restaurants here. Two stood out, NAOand Christobal. The owners are happy and interested in making their customers satisfied with good food, wine and rum. They bring out samples to taste, much sharing like we do here. They share and they are proud of their accomplishments. Service is supreme.  Chris, my foodie husband and Michael, our foodie friend actually sous cheffed in one Paladar (private owned restaurant) after making friends there, making sauce for the very fresh fish. Cuban food is simple, rather spiceless and plain. Rice and Beans are staples. Sauces are not made or served even in the private Paladars. But the Paladars we visited have freshest vegetables and meats and seafoods tastily garnished. The owners and chefs were appreciative for Chris' knowlege and lamented that spices and ingredients were not readily available to them.  Truly, we Americans now know that the businesses create meaningful jobs, not the government, and the people can rise with support from jobs.

We traveled through the fallow but tropical countryside valley to the oldest Cuban sugar mill village called Trinidad. Skinny cows graze amongst tropical palms. Crumbling buildings along cobblestoned streets with mule cart travel stuck in time. The village once thrived around sugar, now is is struggling. Many residents appproched us to invite us to their homes for Paladar dining for a few pesos. Children danced and sang and sat to do lessons inside spacious courtyards. I felt like a voyeur in their world. We took photographs of children learning how to rhumba.  The community had a vital spirit in poor conditions. Outdoor vendors begged for sales.  The outdoor stoned tiered atrium had nightly fabulous Buena Vista music and it was jamming with tourists, great dancers and one peso beers. Actually music is in every government restaurant, paladar and Trinidad streets. Music and art hold the spirit of Cuba. One combo that impressd us was Cuarteto Isla Ensemble, a Trinidad rockstar ensemble.

Our group saw Hemingway's house and the restaurant where he wrote and filmed The Old Man and The Sea. All though the streets as our chartered bus traveled were murals on houses and buildings done by artists of A Wrinkle in Time, fantastic realistic aged faces done is black and white on crumbling walls. We were shown the site of the graves of Cuba, where Christopher Columbus was buried then moved to Spain. The gravesites were monumental. Cuba had a rich Jewish business community at one time as we saw in the cemetary. We learned and grew through the Cuban creativity and culture. Our last exchange was one of the best lunches in Fuster's ceramic sculptrual home in Havana's Miramar neighborhood, so fascinating his prolific tiled creations and paintings. It left us uplifted and hungry for more. Some of us are preparing for another cultural exchange possibly taking our knowlege to them in an effort to acknowlege them and reach out to their position of extreme contrasts in socialism. The rum, music of the Tropicana night, and the Cuban's sweet human hunger for MORE sharing will bring us back.