Culture

Cuban State Security Calls In Havana Times Illustrator

Yasser Castellanos, an independent Cuban artist and illustrator for Havana Times, received an official citation from State Security signed by a certain Lieutenant Pablo. He is expected at the Cuba and Chacon, Old Havana station on Friday, August 10, at 2 p.m. The stated reason: interview.

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Organizers Report on the Alternative Havana Biennial

This is a summary of an open letter about the #00 Biennial delivered in recent days to several Cuban institutions. The text gives details on the process of successfully organizing the event in the face of numerous sabotage attempts. We include a selection of works that participated in the Alternative Havana Biennial.

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Afibola: Deconstructing the Factory of Fear

It’s night-time. Suspicious eyes roam the streets. Poetry is being read, songs are being sung and there are cries at a new alternative festival “Poesia Sin Fin”, in a corner of Old Havana. We don’t all fit inside the house. The audience gathers outside a door and window to hear verses.

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“Cuba Doesn’t Fit into a Passport”

After six decades, Felipe Lazaro hasn’t stopped fighing against ruin and oblivion. He returns to his happy childhood in a Guines from yesteryear, the main town to the south of Havana, which finds itself in ruins today. His most recent book, “Invisibles triangulos de muerte” (2017), was recently published by Editorial Bethania.

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Poems by Ernesto Cardenal Seem to be Written Today

Old poems written by Ernesto Cardenal have gained new life. His writing about a bloody dictatorship seem to have been written a couple of days ago, inspired by the most recent fatalities and repression in Nicaragua. But, they weren’t. They were created a half century ago under the Somoza dictatorship.

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