New Year’s is nearing and it feels as though the end of the world is upon us. Cubans scramble to buy as much food as their few or abundant savings allow them. Yes: having a warm, tasty, longed-for meal is what makes the end of the year a true festivity.
The house where my father, aunts and many of my cousins were born is falling apart. Located in a small town (Guara) in some distant corner of today’s province of Mayabeque, the small, wooden, tile-roofed house is the definition of neglect.
Much has been said and written about the massive pilgrimage that takes place on the eve of December 17. Believers in Saint Lazarus travel every year to the sanctuary, located approximately 17 kilometers from Havana, to ask for health and prosperity.
If you take the synopses of certain films seriously, you can end up with an entirely false picture of these movies. This has happened to me on more than one occasion, and one’s sense of smell tends to improve with these experiences.
As the second half of November draws to a close, I go over the exhibitions held over the previous two months by reviewing their catalogues. I am an avid collector of all these pamphlets, flyers, booklets, brochures and other documents.
While heading to work on a bus, I saw an elderly gentleman reading a newspaper and, out of the corner of my eye, caught a glimpse of a note on the artist Lazaro Saavedra and an award he had won. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
A project is currently underway on one of the blocks of Havana’s Cerro district. A group of artists are covering the facades of buildings located on Romay Street, between Monte and Zequeira streets, with their graffiti, paintings and sculptures.
The 3D Film Screening was one of the highlights of the 6th Contemporary Cuban Art Exhibition held in Havana’s Center for the Development of Visual Arts from September 12 to 25 this year. Cuba’s popular, privately-operated 3D home theaters had been shut down less than a year ago.
Some good friends of mine refer to the spot on Havana’s G avenue they habitually sit at “The Magic Grass.” It’s the only affordable and desirable place where an entire night can be spent with a guitar and a bottle of wine?
“As a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people, Cuban artist Luis Manuel Alcantara made a gift to this nation through that country’s embassy in Havana, consisting of a group of home-made weapons collected from different neighborhoods around Havana.”
