Culture

The original idea of Solas was to organize a festival in “this very humble and so beautiful town, completely lacking red carpets and silliness, or mummies and ridiculousness.

The “underclass” is far removed from the rhetoric of official slogans, and when they are detected, in their daily evolution, the result is a tumultuous collapse of lofty revolutionary myths.

Dioses Rotos (Broken Gods) presents a world of prostitution and pimping that, as expected, is directly related to a host of realities: jail, drug addiction, street ethics, religion, and sex as both an escape route and a way of life.

Adorned with posters reminiscent of different Cuban movies, the lobby of the La Rampa Theater welcomes people anxious to hear music that makes them think. “We intend to invade the senses of the people who come with a combination of music and visual arts,” said musician Silvio Alejandro.

The date is the third Friday of every month in a laidback atmosphere where the public often sits on the floor – sometimes because there is a lack of seats, other times because they just feel more comfortable.

Even when efficient civil defense procedures are able to save our most important assets: human lives, the catastrophes in terms of lost infrastructure, crops and material goods, leave a painful memory among residents of affected communities.

The year 2008 was a particularly active year when Cuba was hit by three major hurricanes. A photographic exhibition titled Challenges of Nature displays moments of last year’s storm season.

Have things gotten so bad that Chelsea contemporary galleries are going socialist? Not really, but some of the most powerful galleries in the storied New York art district are pooling their cultural power to send a special exhibition to Cuba at the end of the month to promote “cross-cultural ties through visual means.” The initiative, dubbed “Chelsea Visits Havana,” is organized by Alberto Magnan and Dara Metz, both connected to Chelsea outpost Magnan Projects. It touches down at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in the Cuban capital, Mar. 28-May 17, 2009, timed to debut alongside the Havana Biennial, Mar. 27-Apr. 30, 2009.

It was a shame that public was so sparse. This wonderful concert was hardly advertised, though Cuban jazz lovers would have enjoyed it greatly. Visits by foreign artists to our island are always welcome. We —like Laure Donnat— know that music is much better than lackluster speeches.